Posts Tagged ‘Spanish Wine’
In a more perfect world I would have made some pointed and in-depth piece about what bottles of bubbles I was opening for the friends I was having over to my house on New Years Eve. We do not live in such a world. While I did come across tweets and pieces about people opening $100 bottles of sparkling wine and champagne, I just couldn’t justify that, in no small part because I knew exactly how the evening was going to descend (into a raucous good time).
I do, however, feel as though I owe it to the new year, and to the bottles that I opened, to show the bottles that I provided for the evening. Friends brought over others, but here’s a picture of the bottles that I provided for the festivities.
There are a lot of different wine sites out there giving suggestions on what you should be pouring during your Thanksgiving festivities. Since, however, it’s been fairly well established what varietals go well with the traditional Thanksgiving feast, I thought I would change it up and let you know what I’m pouring at dinner, or rather, what I’m taking up to my parents house to pour for the army-sized feast my mother will be cooking.
2009 Coastal Vines Pinot Noir – Sonoma, CA – $10
Varietal: Rioja (85% Tempranillo; 10% Graciano; 5% Mazuelo)
Region: Spain – Rioja
Cost: $14 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Wild cherry, pepper, and oak aromas with soft tannins that pair well with beef, lamb, grilled foods, and strong cheeses.
My Review: Anybody that’s been reading this site long enough knows that I’m a fan of Tempranillo and blends using it. Rioja was my first real introduction into Spanish wine, and I tend to hold a soft spot in my heart for the region because of that…also because they make good wines. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Tempranillo
Region: Spain
Cost: $4
Dark garnet in color with aromas of berry and dark cherry. On the palate, dark cherry, spice, and bittersweet chocolate. Pairs well with grilled lamb, olives, and rich cheeses.
Recommendations: So I don’t remember where or when, but somewhere, on some blog or website, I had read about the Lucky Duck line of wines. Unfortunately I don’t remember what that blog/article/website said. So, when I came across the wines at my local Wal-Mart while poking around after buying new glasses (the eye kind, not the drinking kind), I knew that I was familiar with the wine’s name, but not much else. However, since I’m always looking for something new to try, I grabbed some.
The wine itself was a dark garnet color in the glass, and the aromas of dark cherry were pretty in your face. That cherry and some berry carried into the palate in what was a very bright, fruit forward wine, but also very clearly a Tempranillo. With a dinner of beef stew that the wife had been cooking all day it was a nice bright note against the heartiness of the meal. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Tempranillo (60%); Cabernet Sauvignon (40%)
Region: Spain
Cost: $10 (SRP)
Fruit aromas with flavors of raspberry, cherry, plum, and blackberry. Pairs well with grilled eggplant, grilled skirt steaks, vegetarian chili, pork, and tapas.
Recommendations: Last month I did a review of the 2009 Tempra Tantrum Tempranillo Shiraz, and while I enjoyed it, if push came to shove and I had to choose between the Shiraz blend and the Cabernet blend…I’d have to go with the Cabernet blend. The aromas of the wine were of berry, and based on the nose I was expecting a fairly fruit forward wine, but that’s not what I got.
Sure, there were flavors of berry, but there were also hints of chocolate and a smoothness to the wine that I found incredibly enjoyable. Paired with a dinner of pork tenderloin and risotto, this wine was a perfect compliment, and quite honestly was great just by itself. This may actually be one of the best value wines I’ve had in a while, and I definitely recommend trying it out if you come across a bottle of it. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Tempranillo (60%); Shiraz (40%)
Region: Spain
Cost: $11.99 (SRP)
Aromas of spice and cherry, with flavors of dark cherry, chocolate, blackberry, plum, and earthiness. Pairs well with hearty meals such as Texas pork ribs, lasagna Florentine, tapas, lamb, and Spanish chorizo.
Recommendations: My wife liked this bottle just because the label was orange, her favorite color. I was intrigued when I got this sample some weeks ago as I enjoy both Tempranillo and Shiraz, but hadn’t really experimented with them blended. Finally, this past weekend while having a friend over for dinner, I decided to give it a try.
The wine was nice and dark in the glass and featured aromas of cherry and a bit of spice and earth. On the palate I got black cherry and a nice smooth finish that was oh so welcome. While I didn’t pair the wine with a Spanish dish, I did have it with a nice nice hearty beef stew that my wife had been slowly making in the crock pot all day. Read the rest of this entry »
