ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997 TAG: 9702260031
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: the wine list
SOURCE: BETH CRITTENDEN
Walk into Lee & Edwards Wine Merchants and you are likely to be greeted by a tall, pleasant gentleman trying to sell you a bottle of Spanish wine. This is sales associate Terry Eastman, Roanoke's own Spanish-wine enthusiast. Having traveled throughout much of Spain with his Madrid-born wife, Victoria Luiza Diaz, Eastman has taken up the cause of these underappreciated wines, showing off their good dollar value and wonderful flavors.
Eastman is one of the many savvy wine consumers and retailers who are familiar with the current demand in the market for Spanish wines. Recent issues of The Wine Spectator magazine sang the praises of these up-and-coming wines, and Eastman is happy to introduce wine lovers to the joys of Spain.
Many local wine lovers are familiar with Spanish Cava, or sparkling wines, such as Freixinet Cordon Negro and Codorniu Blanc de Blanc, Riojas from big producers as Marques de Ceceres, Torres, Marques de Riscal and Marques de Grinon and a handful of Spanish sherries. These and other Spanish table wines have had a resurgence in popularity within the last 10 years.
In the early 1980s, Spanish wines were described as "desperately mediocre" at best. For the most part, the wines were lower-quality bulk wines bottled by big cooperatives, known as negociants, that bought the grape juice from all the growers in an area. But the high popularity of premium wine that we are seeing today, coupled with Spain's new international awareness through the European Union, has had its influence. Young entrepreneurs are buying existing cooperatives to upgrade them, and families are beginning to bottle their own higher-quality "estate grown" wines themselves.
The price of winemaking equipment has come down, making it more available to small growers, and wine consultants from around the world are coming to Spain to help the new industry get established.
Eastman has been following the growth of the Spanish wine market, having established his passion for the wines in the 1970s before it was fashionable to do so.
"I was buying Sangre de Toro wines for about $4 while living in Dallas and was amazed at how good they were," he said.
He and his wife married in 1978 and began taking frequent trips to Spain as tourists and to visit her family. Her father lives in Madrid.
From these extended trips, Eastman has become even more familiar with the wines and foods from each region of the country. He has discovered for himself why the wines are made in varying styles - to match the foods native to each region.
"Wines are a part of the Spanish table, and over the centuries Spanish wines evolved to complement the peasant foods, which have remained essentially unchanged," he said. "Because of its long history under [Gen. Francisco] Franco's political regime, the country was isolated from change. There was limited import and export allowed, so people converted back to their traditional cooking methods.
"Regional specialties are the same now that they were hundreds of years ago, and foods such as potatoes, tomatoes and corn, common to other countries, rarely are found in today's Spanish cooking."
Eastman is quick to give recipes and cooking guidelines for Spanish foods and is an avid chef himself. Having lived in Barcelona, Madrid and other parts of Spain, he is full of ideas for matching foods and wines of the country's varying regions.
He's a fun-loving, masterful chef who speaks fondly of his favorite butcher and creamery in Madrid, where he would go each day to gather the freshest ingredients for each meal.
He also is very knowledgeable about the history of Spain's wine industry, which he says first came into the spotlight in the 1860s when France's vineyards were wiped out by phylloxera, or "root rot," and buyers turned to Spain.
Once the disease caught up with Spanish vineyards, the interest and quality declined rapidly; sherries remained the only renowned wine from the country.
In explaining the current interest and improvement in Spanish wines, Eastman said, ``Miguel Torres is the `Robert Mondavi of Spain.' He has been an integral part of the industry for many years and is one of the leaders in bringing Spanish wine quality levels up to new standards for today's wine-buying world.''
Torres recently brought his son into the business with new ideas and up-to-date technology in winemaking. Revised regulations have been introduced in the industry, adding consistency to the levels of high quality.
Eastman's passion for the wine and food of Spain are readily apparent in any conversation with him. His family ties, travel experience and extensive knowledge make him a great resource to anyone looking to Spain for today's wine values.
If you are interested in tasting or learning more about Spanish wines, come hear Eastman as he presents a program on the wines of Spain at Thursday's tasting of the Roanoke Valley Wine Society.
He will lead us through a Spanish wine tasting beginning with a Codorniu Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine or Cava, then on to a Cune Monopole white Rioja and a lineup of red Riojas from Marques de Grinon, including their Wine Spectator best buy 1994 Tempranillo, a 1989 Coleccion Personal Reserva and a powerful 1993 Syrah. The wines will be matched to authentic Spanish tapas prepared by Hidden Valley chef Michael Pantall.
The tasting is 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Hidden Valley Country Club on Romar Road in Salem. The tasting fee is $15 per person; reservations are required. Call 389-8146. Cheers!
Eastman's Spanish wines picks
Codorniu Blanc de Blanc Cava, about $9
Cune Monopole White Rioja, $
Marques de Grinon Rioja Tempranillo, 1994, about $10
Marques de Grinon Rioja, Coleccion Personal Reserva, 1989, about $18
Marques de Grinon Syrah, 1993, about $26
THE WINE LIST runs monthly in the Extra section. Beth Crittenden is a local wine wholesaler and founder of the Roanoke Valley Wine Society, which usually meets for wine-tasting programs on the fourth Thursday of each month. For more information, call 992-3285.
LENGTH: Long : 118 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JANEL RHODA/Staff. Terry Eastman will lead a tasting ofby CNBSpanish wines during the Roanoke Valley Wine Society's monthly
meeting on Thursday evening. color5 2. ``The absolute finest wines
come from Spain,'' says Terry Eastman, sales associate at Lee &
Edwards Wine Merchants in downtown Roanoke.