Off the beaten path

Christian Troy, by far the most voluble and prepared of wine salesmen, was in the restaurant last week showing me some wines that he had picked out keeping in mind my affinity for Barolo and Champagne. Christian works for Polaner Selections. He brought me a vermentino, a frappato, a barbera, a Pugliny-Montrachet and two Spanish wines from Lopez de Heredia, a red and a white, both crianzas.

From the OCW:

A crianza red wine may not be sold until its third (second for whites) year, and must have spent a minimum of six months in oak barricas (barriques). In Rioja and other regions such as Ribera del Duero, where the term is most commonly used, the wine must have spent at least 12 months in oak casks.

What was interesting about the white, the Gravonia Rioja Blanco Crianza, was that it is a 1998. Christian says they wait to release their wines. The red is a 2002 vintage.