Wine Blogging Wednesday #35: Spanish Value Wines
We sort of dropped the ball on this one. Oops. We opened a 2003 Juan Gil last night and thought we’d compare it to the 2004, then we forgot to bring the ‘04 home from the office and there’s no going back there this evening. Then we looked around the house only to find out we don’t have any Spanish wines except for a $40 bottle at the ready. And that’s not really in the value category for today’s Wine Blogging Wednesday, hosted by Wine-Girl.net.
So do you mind if we cheat just a teensy-beensy? For this edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, we’re going to review a couple of wines we have tasted in the past that we like so much we actually stock in our store (full disclosure: we are closely affiliated with a retail endeavor and normally try to review things we haven’t tried or stocked yet so we can be as unbiased as possible).
The wines:
2003 Rioja Vega Crianza:
This is a really rich wine, deep red in color, with some spicy aromas and burnt sugar elements. It reminds us of those spicy and slightly sweet pecans that taste so good with a goat cheese salad. The wine is full bodied and meaty. Not as in gamey, meaty, but as in a wine with heft and texture. But the tannins are very mellow here, which we appreciate since it keeps things in balance. We really think this is an interesting offering, and it comes with lots of history as the estate first bottled wines in 1921. The blend is made from 80% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha and 5% Mazuelo. Thumbs up for us. $13.99. (FYI, usually we don’t point to scores but the discrepancy here is interesting: Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate loved it at 89, and the Spectator hated it at 78. Go figure.)
2005 Piqueras Castillo de Almansa Garnacha Tintorea:
The Piqueras family has owned vineyards for almost 100 years, at a 2,500 foot elevation outside the hilltop fortress town of Almansa — just north of Jumilla. Juan Pablo Bonete Piqueras is the latest generation of Piqueras winemakers, and we were lucky to meet him at an event this spring in Los Angeles. He’s got lots of character, and doesn’t tend to do things by the book. The wine shows his idiosyncracies, in the best way possible.
This particular wine is 100% Garnacha Tintorea, which was developed in France and widely planted in Alicante, just southeast of Almansa. The pulp of this grape, unlike the grenache most of us are more familiar with, is as red as its skin. This is produced in all-stainless steel and is another rich offering, with lots of dark fruit, some white pepper, a hint of cloves and a lot of structure. It’s a unique wine and a great value for only $7.99.
It’s also a nice change from the more typical garnacha and tempranillo wines in the under $10 range, and its a worthy grape we haven’t come across before or since. Thumbs way up!
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So, there you have it. Two wines — one a bit more traditional from an historic estate (though a nice twist on the blend) and the other from a maverick winemaker who hails from an equally as experienced winemaking family. These are both worth your trouble to track down, and as always, check out Wine-Searcher to see if any shops local to you carry them, or you can always go to our store…
Next time, we promise a more rigorous WBW entry. Thanks for tuning in, and please go to Wine-Girl.net to read notes on the dozens of wines that bloggers tasted for this month’s event.
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get your wine on
2008 “Bebame” Red, El Dorado County, California
Cabernet Franc (65%) and Gamay (35%) from - gasp - California! And only 13% ABV, pretty modest by California standards. If I tasted this blind I would probably have said it’s from the Loire Valley. It has pretty much nothing in common with the full bodied iterations of Cab Franc coming out of Napa. Juicy, light, delicious quaffing wine.$18 a bottle
2006 Telegramme Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge
Really balanced and smooth, this is a bargain of a Chateauneuf. Yeah, the 07s are lauded but what would I prefer to drink? This! It’s the second label of Vieux Telegraphe, from the same property but from younger vines. And it’s a deal at $33 a bottle.2006 or bust!
NV Barcino Cava: LA Times Wine of the Week!
Delicious and just in time for New Year’s Eve…this is the LA Times Wine of the Week, and we have plenty in stock. Order online, pick-up in-store!$14 a bottle!
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freshly pressed
3/8/10: First domaineLA Wine Tasting at Susan Feniger’s Street: 5 Wines, $15:
Just a quick note to let you know that a week from today, on Monday, March 8th, 2010, I’ll be hosting the first domaineLA wine tasting event at Susan Feniger’s Street, with the Manincor winery of Italy. The importer and winemaker will both be present to chat about the five wines being poured (including an unusual and delicious dry moscato), and the wines will be paired with light bites.
The best news is that the event will cost just $15 a person…a bargain! Swing by between 6PM and 8PM — I hope to see lots of you there!
Susan Feniger’s Street, 742 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Oh, and you can buy tickets in advance, online by clicking here:
3/8/10: First domaineLA Wine Tasting at Susan Feniger’s Street: 5 Wines, $15
Wine Retail and Social Media: Yeah, I Should Be Blogging…
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wine jargon
Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.
Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.
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Read more…Fabulous & Frugal!
Our friends launched a new site and domaine547 is a featured wine columnist in their premiere edition! Go check out Fabulous & Frugal for some fantastic lifestyle tips for living the good life during what, for most of us, is an economically challenging time. There’s much more than wine there, and we’re thrilled to be a small part of the start of what will surely be a successful venture. Congrats to Brandi & Steph for their achievement!
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domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
July 11th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
I recently compared the latest scores on Spanish wines from the Spectator and Parker, and there were lots of discrepancies like the Vega Crianza one you mention. It made me think, especially in light of another blogger who said the critics don’t taste blind, if they also might know their competitors’ scores while they’re evaluating. Meaning, is there an agenda to the divergent scores or are the palates of these publications truly that far apart?