Tagged : Spanish Wine

in Wine & Food

Beso de Vino Syrah Grenache (Garnacha)

2009 Vintage (Selección 2009)
Tasted: February 2011

This blend of Syrah and Grenache (or Garnacha as it’s called in Spain) is quite sweet on the tip of the tongue moving to tart berries at the back and earthy leather notes in the finish. This one’s a crowd pleaser. Cool packaging and an interesting wine of layered complexity make this an exceptionally good buy for $12.99. Pairs extremely well with dark chocolate and with meats too. This is a great date wine, dinner party wine, Tuesday wine, and pretty much good all around wine. The man himself Robert Parker Jr. gave this wine 90 points. If price is a factor in judging this is definitely an A+.

Oh, and how can you not like this story printed on the label:

“Antonio the Bull, kissed this wine and he fell in love. Now he runs around the world and offers this wine to you. Beso de Vino “Kiss of Wine,” the spanish Temptation in a bottle. Fall in love. Have fun. Beso de Vino.”

The branding is brilliant, the wine is great, and it pretty much sums up what wine is all about in the first place — eat, drink, and be merry.

Where to buy Beso de Vino Syrah Garnacha:

 

in Wine & Food

Cava Codorníu Brut Clasico

Non-Vintage
Tasted: December 2010

This is one of those great finds — an inexpensive sparkling wine that isn’t, well, crap. For $16.99 this was a decent bottle of Spanish bubbly which took me back to my point of sparkling enlightenment a couple of years ago in Barcelona. Made in the Traditional Method involving a first and second fermentation and a relatively long aging period, this Cava is a nice toasty dry sparkler that fits a scrupulous budget. There’s not too much to be said here. It’s good. Pop the cork and enjoy!

 

 

in Wine & Food

Pedro Pergolas Crianza Old Vines Tempranillo

2006 Vintage
Tasted: November 2010

For $12 this is a great value where I come from. The BC Liquor pricing is undoubtedly higher than in the USA and of course in Spain. This wine smells like a strawberry Jolly Rancher mixed with a subtle hint of farm dirt. The taste is of ripe berries and a little earthy goodness. The finish is long and the acid is good. I’d be curious to age this wine for a while and see how it turns out.

This is a medium body Tempranillo fit for drinking on its own or pairing with everything from fish to meat.

This is probably the wine you bring to the dinner where you want to bring something decent, but don’t want to spend a lot of money for fear that your less wine savvy friends won’t appreciate your expensive gesture. Pedro Pergolas solves that problem for you as nobody would ever know that you cheaped out.

Overall this one is versatile and cheap. I like it and consider it an excellent buy.

in Wine & Food

Inédito Rioja 3/3

2008 Vintage
Tasted: September 2010

This was a great buy while out to dinner in Montreal at the Continental Bistro on St. Denis. Restaurant price was $40 CAD, and it brought about some nice fruit flavour, pepper, and was just a nice wine all around for a great price. Everyone at the table agreed that it was a good score for the price!

I’d actually like to stock up on this one in my house. I’ll have to see if they have it back at home in BC.

in Wine & Food

Abadia Retuerta Sardon De Duero Tempranillo



2004 Vintage
I like this one! It’s a nice blend of mostly Tempranillo with a little Cab Sauv thrown in the mix. I’d say overall it’s a big red, and an excellent wine. It’s full bodied with good tannins and a dark brooding flavour.

Who I’d Drink This With
I’d probably drink this wine with Javier Bardem or Benicio Del Toro. There’s some intensity to it, so intense company works.

What I’d Eat With It
For this I’d go lamb. I’m not sure why, but something about this wine screams lamb chop. Basically something gamey. On the vegetable side thing meaty like eggplant.

in Wine & Food

Cheap Wine Superbowl

I went to a Superbowl party at the place of some friends. Superbowl is more of a beer event, but drinking that much beer makes me bloated. I opt instead for cheap wine in the true spirit of the game. Cheap wine is a suitable replacement for Bud Light is it not?

First up was the Antano Rioja Crianza 2007 — a predominantly Tempranillo wine with some Grenache, Granciano, and Mazuelo mixed in their for good measure. It falls in the under $15 at the Canadian BC Liquor store which means it is probably dirt cheap everywhere else in the world. The wine was nice — soft on tannins and easy drinking. Young, but good and a good value for the money.

Second to bat was the Longue Dog 2008. I have to admit that I bought this wine entirely for the label. Haha, get it? Longue Dog, Languedoc? There’s even a picture of an elongated dog. I am probably missing something, but I thought it was comedic enough to bring to Superbowl. Did I like it? No. The label was misleading…or totally appropriate. There was no description other than “Red Wine” on the label, so I dug deep into the pits of Google to find this PDF write-up which declares this wine a Syrah-Grenache. While it was drinkable it lacked structure or anything interesting. A tad on the watery side. Like grape juice. You likely won’t find this one in my posession again. Fit for Superbowl — I guess so.