From November to January the airline is offering its long-haul business passengers reds from La Rioja, Ribera del Duero, and Navarra; and whites from Rueda and Rías Baixas
Iberia, assisted by Spanish wine specialist consultants Todovino, has just announced the wines it will be serving to Business Plus passengers on long-haul flights in November-January, including all flights to and from the Americas and Angola. The quarterly selections help familiarise Iberia’s premium customers with the most exquisite Spanish regional wines.
In this quarter business passengers can choose amongst three reds, from La Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Navarra, and whites from Rueda and Rías Baixas.
These wines can be enjoyed aboard long-haul flights or sampled in Iberia’s VIP lounges in Terminal 4 of Madrid airport, where customers can obtain a wealth of information. A video aboard the flight features a tasting session with comments by Iberia’s chief sommelier Custodio L. Zamarra.
This Quarter’s Wines
Cantos de Valpiedra 2009 Tinto (D.O.Ca. Rioja). The crown jewel of the Familia Martínez-Bujanda group is Finca Valpiedra, a spectacular 80 hectare vineyard on the banks of the Ebro. Cantos de Valpiedra is the wine that best exemplifies the characteristics of the region – freshness, fruitiness and a smooth woody note. The wine, made entirely with tempranillo grapes, is aged in casks for twelve months and gives excellent value for money.
Conde de San Cristóbal 2009 Tinto (D.O. Ribera del Duero). The 2009 vintage was a godsend following two difficult years in this region, for it restored the fruitiness, potency, and expressiveness for which this Conde de San Cristóbal is justly famed. The Marqués de Vargas group again gives us a fine red that will age well in the bottle for the next two or three years.
Chivite Selección Especial de la Finca de Villatuerta 2008 (D.O. Navarra). The latest offering from the prestigious Chivite family arises from its new project of making wines with grapes from individual vineyards, in this instance the Granja Legardeta, at the foot of Montejurra, on the pilgrims’ Way of St. James, with fresh Atlantic influences. This is a tempranillo mixed with merlot that amounts to an archetype of a balanced and elegant wine in which everything is just as it should be.
Pazo Señorans 2011 (D.O. Rías Baixas). A great success in its previous appearances on Iberia’s Business Plus wine list, this albariño by one of the pioneering Galician vintners is consistently excellent. This most recent vintage is particularly fine and delicate, with a hint of fennel and pulpy white fruit, smooth, dry, serious, and perfectly harmonised.
Menade Verdejo 2011 (D.O. Rueda). The Sanz family in Rueda has become a genuine dynasty with Richard, Marco and Alejandra followed in their father’s footsteps in 2005 to create their own wineries, Sitios de Bodega, reflecting their ecological concerns as well as their intimate knowledge of the region and long experience with the verdejo grape. The fresh and fruity Menade came out especially well in 2011.
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