Rioja Wine Tasting Featuring Bodegas Ontanon, Bodegas Montecillo, CVNE and more with Special Guest Ana Fabiano Celebrating Rioja Women’s History Month
"With bread and wine you can walk your road"
Spanish Proverb quotes
I will never forget my first trip to Spain in 1994. The Spanish government had a program where they gave wine industry professionals an opportunity to win an all expenses paid trip to visit several of the major wine producing regions in Spain for FREE. All you had to do was take a test and be one of the two highest scoring individuals in your market and your on your way to Spain business class airfair, all accommodations and meals were courtesy of the Spanish wine industry.
The leader of our group of industry leaders was none other than Ana Fabiano, who at that time was considered one of the foremost experts on Spanish wines living in the United States. She was a wealth of knowledge, and the trip was a "Once in a Lifetime" opportunity to learn about Spanish wines visiting some of Spain's top wineries in VIP fashion. I remember every winery we visited rolled out the red carpet and we finished our lunches with Spanish brandy and Cuban cigars.
We had a great evening at the Wine Bar with Ana in 2022 and when she contacted me about featuring Toni in a promotion called Rioja Women’s History Month happening during the month of March we put Friday March 21st on the calendar to feature these wineries for a special night along with a themed dinner prepared by chef Toni.
Join us as we welcome Ana back to South Florida for a special evening of Rioja wines from three great wineries celebrating women in the world of Spanish winemakers and of course our chef Toni Lampasone. Join us as we experience wines from Bodegas Ontañón, Bodegas Queirón, Bodegas Montecillo, CVNE along with older vintages from the Wine Watch cellar along with a special meal prepared by Chef Toni Lampasone. The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $225 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com
Rioja Wine Tasting Featuring Bodegas Ontanon, Bodegas Montecillo CVNE and more
with Special Guest Ana Fabiano
Friday, March 21, 2025
7:30 PM
2018 Cvne Monopole Clasico Blanco Seco
2022 Ontanon "Kaori" (100% viura)
2023 Ontanon Tempranillo Blanco
2015 Ontanon Rioja Reserva
2019 Queirón Rioja Vino De Quel Mi Lugar
2017 Bodegas Montecillo Reserva
2017 Bodegas Montecillo Edicion Limitada
2015 Montecillo Rioja Gran Reserva
1994 Bodegas Montecillo Gran Reserva Rioja
2019 CVNE Cune Reserva Rioja
2017 CVNE Cune Imperial Gran Reserva Rioja
2007 CVNE Cune Imperial Gran Reserva Rioja
Menu
Jamon De Serrano Manchego
Sardines Tacos with Roasted Red Pepper Relish
Patas a Rioja - Chorizo Stew
Torta Espanola with Olive Tapenade
Pork Belly with Tempranillo Natural Sauce
Dulce de Leche
The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $225 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any food allergies or aversions and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.
Celebrating Rioja Women’s History Month
A bit about Toni Lampasone
My professional career began in the restaurant business but not in the kitchen as a manager in the front of the house. When I met Andrew in 1997 and we bought Wine Watch in1998 I was not even a modest cook as I never really spent any time in the kitchen until our children were born in 2003 and 2004. I wanted to make sure our children ate good healthy food, so I began cooking for the family. When Andrew suggested that I start preparing the food for our wine events at Wine Watch, I was a bit hesitant at first but after he assured me that if my cooking was good enough for him and our children it is good enough for our “Wine Drinking People” at Wine Watch. One of the guiding forces in honing my skills in the kitchen were two dear friends I worked with at Café Maxx, chef Oliver Saucy and chef Mike Saperstein. While working with these two chefs at Café Maxx I saw food creativity that I had never experienced before and as I began my career in the kitchen these two friends answered hundreds of questions about preparing certain dishes at the wine bar.
Mercedes Garcia - BODEGAS MONTECILLO
Mercedes Garcia grew up in Madrid yet her family owned land in Soria which is south of Rioja. There they cultivated various crops but in early childhood, she fell in love with the vineyards that inspired her to study viticulture and winemaking in Madrid. Thereafter, she joined a winery of the prestigious Sherry House Osborne as a winemaker. In 2008, the offer to join the winemaking team at their centenary winery Bodegas Montecillo in Rioja was presented to her, and in her words, she hightailed up to Rioja in a nanosecond embracing the opportunity. By 2015 she became chief winemaker driven by the potential, challenge, and centenary history. At Montecillo, she has instituted brave and groundbreaking changes with growers, barrel management, and aging. Most importantly, a fresh new selection of wine offerings some of which we are tasting tonight.
Raquel Perez Cuevas BODEGA ONTAÑON
Raquel Perez Cuevas is the Managing Director for Bodega Ontañon and the 4th generation family member responsible for the family vineyards, winemaking, and a fabulous cultural and tasting center located in Logroño the capital of La Rioja. A proud ancestral heartbeat pulses strongly in Raquel and she cherishes childhood memories in the prized family vineyards such as “La Pasada”. Today, together with her three siblings they are at the helm of the winery, producing world-class wine anchored in quality, loyalty to their land, family vineyards, and sustainability. The family are passionate pioneers for their village of Quel located in the Rioja Oriental (Eastern Rioja) of the DOCa Rioja. The label for their Queirón Estate astounding Tempranillo Blanco reads like an old printer's press and is both intentional and informative
Maria Larrea CVNE
Maria Larrea has been the chief winemaker at the prestigious centenary winery CVNE (Compañia Vinícola del Norte de España) for over two decades. It is owned by the fifth-generation Urrutia family and is located in Haro, the epicenter of centenary wineries. A Riojan, as a child, Maria tended to family vineyards and felt that it was impossible to not fall in love with winemaking. Today she leads a tight full female winemaking team, many of whom graduated from the University of Rioja, in Logroño. She explains that she was not seeking a female team but made her selections purely on merit and it turned out they were all women. She shares her greatest moment as when their Imperial Gran Reserva 2004 won #1 wine of the year from Wine Spectator magazine in 2013. It was the first Spanish wine ever to receive this iconic award and for her and the family a tremendous professional and personal milestone.
Ana Fabiano AUTHOR, THE WINE REGION OF RIOJA
Ana Fabiano is recognized in and outside the DOCa Rioja as a leading expert on the Rioja wine region and has carried out countless visits to the region. She was a co-founder and Managing Director of RIOJATRADE, the wine government entity dedicated to the business development of Rioja wine in the USA and Canada. During her tenure, Rioja USA shipments more than doubled in volume and increased in value. At that time, she also researched and authored the first and only Rioja book by a USA publisher titled The Wine Region of Rioja. It is award-winning and in its 2nd edition. She maintains her expertise daily through continual research, and exchanges with her mentors and colleagues in Rioja. Her vast research, Rioja’s successful plan to position the region as world-class, along with the strong lineage and presence of the female in Rioja inspired her to create this Tribute.
Bodegas Montecillo
Founded in 1870, Bodegas Montecillo is the oldest winery in Fuenmayor and the third in La Rioja.
A century-old commitment, spanning over 150 years, to a privileged land, to a unique environment, to the towns around us and to the families of winegrowers who have been working with us for over 40 years.
At Montecillo we work every day to make wines that are respectful of our environment, but also faithful to a legacy, a history and a tradition that dates back to 1870. Only with respect and passion can we do what we do: honest and authentic wines, a reflection of everything we are and of our region.
2022 Bodegas Montecillo Singladuras Albarino, Rias Baixas
Price: $18.75 Your Price: $16.50
The clean flavors of Albariño are very versatile and partner well with typical local dishes such as Galician style octopus or scallops. It is ideal with white meats and vegetables or seafood, clams, oysters and oven-baked fish.
Lemon yellow with greenish highlights, clean and bright. A pure sensation of fruit on the nose, ripe peach wrapped in citrus notes and a finish of ripe pear. On the palate it bursts with an explosion of delicious fruit: peach, attractive citrus notes and a lovely silkiness. The characteristic saline note of great wines made with this variety, which makes them so good with food, makes a clear appearance on the finish. A very seductive wine.
Montecillo is renowned for its female winemakers; led by oenologist Mercedes Garcia.
Established in 1870, Bodegas Montecillo is one of the oldest wineries in the D.O. Rioja. The name, Montecillo—or little mountain—speaks to the irregular topography of the Rioja vineyards. Surrounded by vines and close to the waters of the majestic Ebro river, the city of Fuenmayor is set amongst flat topped hills, and in the distance, the distinctive rocky mass of the Cantabrian Mountains.
Montecillo’s ancient underground ‘bodega’ houses hand stacked bottles that remain undisturbed until reaching optimal roundness, including vintages that date back to 1926, the year that the Rioja Designation of Origin was created. The wines are crafted to enjoy a long bottle life; they continue bottle ageing longer than those from other wineries in the region.
2017 Bodegas Montecillo Reserva
Price: $20.25 Your Price: $16.20
(90 points) Spiced and dried cherries, grilled herbs, leather, olives and mocha on the nose. Tangy on the palate, with a medium body and rusty tannins. Meaty. Drink now. James Suckling (Sep 2023)
2015 Montecillo Rioja Gran Reserva
Price: $37.50 Your Price: $33.00
(93 points) Aromas of black cherry and butterscotch set the stage for further black cherry, pomegranate, caramel and coffee-bean flavors with a hint of cured bacon. Plush tannins build in volume and slowly drop away to showcase a violet-strewn finish. Mike DeSimone, Wine Enthusiast (May 2024)
2017 Bodegas Montecillo Edicion Limitada
Price: $27.00 Your Price: $23.76
(90 points) A well-meshed red, with a frame of lightly chalky tannins, showing a lively mix of juicy blackberry and mulberry fruit flavors accented by dried sage, loamy earth, vanilla and orange peel elements. Tempranillo and Graciano. Drink now through 2029. 6,600 cases made, 1,000 cases imported. Alison Napjus, Wine Spectator (Jun 2024)
At the end of the 19th Century, our founder, Celestino Navajas, made the first wines to bear our name in two handcrafted forged iron and oak vats. The smaller of the two vats gave rise to a wine that was aged in 22 oak barrels.
A tribute to our founders, their centuries-old legacy and winemaking philosophy, which has been studied with respect and adapted to the current day. A wine born from four parcels of vines, over 45 years old, as a blend of four varieties: Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha and Mazuelo. 6,600 bottles of an astounding Gran Reserva, which is lively, intense and flavorful and goes beyond the limits of classicism.
2011 Bodegas Montecillo 22 Barricas Gran Reserva, Rioja DOCa, Spain
Price: $50.75 Your Price: $44.66
(92 Points) Earthy berry and plum aromas come across as mature but not old, with meaty accents. The palate on this barrel-selected gran reserva is layered and filled out by generous tannins. Flavors of prune, raisin, cassis and blueberry are filled out well by oak tones, but not overpowered. This warm-vintage gran reserva feels smooth on the finish; drink through 2028. — Michael Schachner
2015 Montecillo 22 Barricas Rioja Gran Reserva
Price: $151.50 Your Price: $133.32
At the end of the 19th Century, our founder, Celestino Navajas, made the first wines to bear our name in two handcrafted forged iron and oak vats. The smaller of the two vats gave rise to a wine that was aged in 22 oak barrels.
A tribute to our founders, their centuries-old legacy and winemaking philosophy, which has been studied with respect and adapted to the current day. A wine born from four parcels of vines, over 45 years old, as a blend of four varieties: Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha and Mazuelo. 6,600 bottles of an astounding Gran Reserva, which is lively, intense and flavorful and goes beyond the limits of classicism.
2001 BODGAS MONTECILLO GRAN RESERVA SELECCIÓN ESPECIAL RIOJA
Price: $265.00 Your Price: $233.20
2001, the inaugural vintage of a new millennium and a year that now forms part of the history of Rioja due to its exceptional quality. The average levels of the analytic data are undoubtedly the highest seen to date, higher even than those of iconic vintages like 1994.
1994 Bodegas Montecillo Gran Reserva Rioja
Price: $99.00 Your Price: $79.20
CVNE
CVNE, Compañía Vinícola del Norte del España (the Northern Spanish Wine Company), was founded in 1879 in the town of Haro in Rioja. CVNE was founded by two brothers and today is still controlled by the direct descendants of the founding family. Since its inception, CVNE has been focused on the production and aging of wines and now comprises of four wineries: CVNE, Imperial, Vina Real and Contino.
2018 CVNE Cune Monopole Rioja Blanco
Price: $15.50 Your Price: $13.64
Nice pale yellow color with greenish reminiscences. On the nose the elegance is given by floral and fruity notes such as apple, pear and citrus notes. Both its smooth entry and its delicate passage through the palate gives us a balanced and fresh wine, with a long and fruity aftertaste. This makes it a perfect companion for all kinds of seafood, appetizers, salads and cheese. Recommended service temperature 8 – 10º
2019 CVNE Cune Reserva Rioja
Price: $21.50 Your Price: $18.92
(90 Points) The 2019 Cune Reserva was produced with a blend of Tempranillo with 15% Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo from Haro. 2018 was a warm and healthy year that delivered a wine with 14% alcohol and good balance. It fermented in 20,000-liter stainless steel vats and matured in French and American oak barrels for 18 months. It's a classical warm year in the style of 2009, or 2015, already with some tertiary notes, hints of earth and leather, spicy and with abundant tannins that call for food. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2017 CVNE Cune Imperial Gran Reserva Rioja
Price: $51.00 Your Price: $44.88
(91 Points) A balanced, medium-bodied red, with hints of cedar and cigar box accenting plum and soft cherry fruit. Gains supple definition from fine-grained tannins, and delivers depth and focus without excessive weight or power. Elegant. Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2028. 4,000 cases made, 2,000 cases imported. Wine Spectator
2019 CVNE Imperial Reserva Rioja
Price: $42.75 Your Price: $37.62
(94 Points) The 2019 Imperial Reserva was cropped from a very healthy year with good ripeness and balance, a powerful vintage with a 185-day vegetative cycle. They look for finesse, precision and power, a blend of Tempranillo and 15% Graciano, Mazuelo and Garnacha put through optical sorting and fermented in oak vats with yeasts selected from the Imperial vineyards and a 20-day maceration, then it matured in barrels, 70% French and the rest American, for 24 months. It has 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.61. It feels very classical, with finesse and power, balanced and serious. It has tannins that call for food. 150,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2022. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2019 CVNE VINA REAL CRIANZA RIOJA
Price: $15.50 Your Price: $13.64
(91 Points) The fruit-driven, ripe and heady 2019 Viña Real Crianza was produced with 90% Tempranillo and the rest between Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano from a vineyard in the Sonsierra zone (call it Rioja Alavesa if you like). It has 13.75% alcohol and a pH of 3.6 and is polished and easy to understand and like. It has plenty of tannins; it calls for food. The oak is soft and integrated. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2016 CVNE Vina Real Gran Reserva Rioja
Price: $61.50 Your Price: $54.12
(95 Points) The extremely affordable 2016 Viña Real Gran Reserva Especial recovers the "Especial" mention from the old Reserva Especial vintages from a very good year. It's a classical Rioja Alavesa blend of 95% Tempranillo with 5% Graciano from their own vineyards. It's open and expressive, with notes of berries, fresh blood and iron, orange peel and sweet spices with the oak still present and in need of some more time in bottle. The palate is medium-bodied and feels lean and serious, with abundant chalky tannins. This should be a classical vintage of this wine in the making. It matured in barrel for two years and no less than three in bottle. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2015 CVNE Vina Real Reserva Rioja Magnum
Price: $52.75 Your Price: $46.42
(93 Points) The classical 2015 Viña Real Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo with 10% Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano from a warm and early harvest that fermented in stainless steel vats and aged in new oak barriques for 22 months with rackings every four months. I find it very expressive, aromatic and open, ripe and hedonistic but without excess. It has the soft and approachable profile of the Alavesa wines but with the grip of the fine-grained, chalky tannins. It's gentle but has clout. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2017 CVNE Vina Real Reserva Rioja
Price: $32.75 Your Price: $28.82
(92 Points) The 2017 Viña Real Reserva displays more advanced characteristics than the 2018 I tasted next to it. It has notes of forest floor intermixed with hints of fruit, berries in liqueur and some spices. 2017 was a very challenging year, and the wine is evolving at a faster pace. It's 13.9% alcohol and has a pH of 3.54, coming through as polished and ready to drink now. It's mostly Tempranillo with 10% other grapes—Graciano, Garnacha and Mazuelo. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bodegas Ontanon
Ontañón is the dream of a family from La Rioja, the materialization of Gabriel and Mari Luz’s longing. We are their children: Raquel, Leticia, Rubén and María. Fourth generation of winemakers.
2022 Bodegas Ontanon Akemi Viura Rioja
Price: $19.50 Your Price: $17.16
through to a creamy palate where notes of lime and spice emerge. Nicely cut, but not hard, and finishing with complex, juicy, fruit and a touch of salty minerality. Don't limit it to raw fish! This has more than enough interest to just sip or enjoy with any lighter fare.
2023 Bodegas Ontanon 'Kaori' Blanco Rioja DOCa, Spain
Price: $22.50 Your Price: $19.80
This 100% Viura wine is lemon yellow in color which is clean and bright. A very expressive aroma with citrus and grapefruit, spices and vanilla highlights. A fresh and very well-balanced wine with balanced acidity and a long citrus finish.
2023 Bodegas Ontañón Rioja Tempranillo Blanco Edición Limitada
Price: $19.50 Your Price: $17.16
Intense tropical fruit aromas of pineapple and banana with hints of white flowers On the palate, this wine is balanced with good acidity, a high expression of fruit with a lengthy finish.
2022 Bodegas Ontañón Rioja Clarete Rosado
Price: $18.00 Your Price: $15.84 Quantity in Stock: 6
.The Clarete displays a clean, bright, and almost transparent coral color. In nose, it expresses a pure, red fruit component laced with light floral aromas. It is light, crisp, and fresh in the mouth, with striking acidity and lifted floral aromas, balanced by delicate red fruit.
2011 Bodegas Ontanon Reserva MAGNUM
Price: $67.50 Your Price: $59.40 Quantity in Stock: 5
Reservas are produced only in vintages of exceptional quality, and the Ontañon Reserva comes from our most select vineyards on the slopes of the Sierra Yerga Mountains, just above the town of Quel in Rioja baja. The product of some of their oldest vines, Ontañon Reserva displays notes of deep, full fruit flavors but with ample acidity, minerality and earth notes drawn from the land where the fruit is grown. It has backbone, fine-laced acidity, structure and natural grape tannins that that will ensure its integrity for years to come.
2019 Bodegas Ontanon Crianza Rioja
Price: $20.25 Sale Price: $17.82 Quantity in Stock: 4
Bodegas Ontanon Crianza is a rich ruby hue in color, with flecks of purple. On the nose, the wine exhibits intense aromas of black fruits, spice, and balsamic vinegar. The wine is fleshy on the palate, with balanced acidity and notes of black fruit and wood.
2015 Bodegas Ontanon Reserva Rioja
Price: $30.00 Sale Price: $26.40 Quantity in Stock: 1
This wine is cherry red in color. The nose and palate are highly com- plex with notes of compote fruit punctuated by toasted spice notes and minerals from aging in high quality oak. The elegance found on the palate is the result of balanced acidity, astringency, and aromatic power, which contributes to a long and elegant finish.
2011 Bodegas Ontañón Rioja Gran Reserva
Price: $49.50 Your Price: $43.56 Quantity in Stock: 8
Gran Reservas by DOCa regulation must spend a total of five years in the winery (three in barrel and two in bottle) prior to release, and this aging lends a quality of subtle spice and integrated components of tobacco and dried fruit. The wine displays notes of soft, voluptuous dark fruit with a touch of earth and a lifted floral aroma on the nose.
2020 Ontanon natura (sin sulfitos) Rioja DOC
Price: $26.00 Your Price: $22.88
From the Pérez Cuevas family in Rioja Oriental, this wine is produced with no added sulphites, but maintains all the quality and character of Ontanon Rioja wines
2020 Bodegas Ontanon Lagarnacha Rioja Oriental, Spain
Price: $28.50 Your Price: $25.08
Wood-matured bright cherry red wine, lively with enormous complexity and great elegance in the aroma. Floral notes and also red fruits such as cherries, plums and strawberries. Lively acidity, persistent on the palate. Silky soft with a velvety and long aftertaste. Subtle and delicate!
NV Bodegas Ontañón Marco Fabio Vendimia Tardia 500ml
Price: $24.75 Your Price: $21.78 Quantity in Stock: 8
Winery Notes: With one of the oldest varieties in the Mediterranean, we make a delicate and fruity wine in which the over-ripening of the grapes in the vineyard offers us the most beautiful aromas of muscat. A velvety and fresh mouth, a thousand flowers, an abundance of gifts. A nectar arising from our deepest Quela tradition.