2005 Viñedos y Bodegas Pablo Garnacha Cariñena Menguante

Type Red
Producer Viñedos y Bodegas Pablo
Variety Garnacha
Designation Menguante
Country Spain
Region Aragón
Appellation Cariñena
Price $8.99



This is under $10. Amazing.

Night One

This has a powerful nose, full of blackberry, mulberry, and orange peel.

The palate is extraordinarily complex for an under $10 wine. It starts with blackberries and pepper, then adds orange peel, intense spices and licorice. The wine is medium-bodied and tannins are smooth, adding leather to the finish. The finish is long.

This is absurdly good for an under $10 wine. Is it great? No, not really. Is it great on a price to quality ratio? Heck yeah. Come back on Night Two to see it it stands up.

Night Two

The nose is not as nice on Night Two, opening with sweet blackberries and the aroma of artificial grape soda. It still has a little of the orange peel from Night One. There is also a touch of tarragon.

The palate has also dropped off quite a bit from Night One. First, rather than smooth, it is gritty. Pepper is stronger than blackberry, but the taste of artificial fruit flavors, followed by a mid-palate with the clear metallic taste of garlic, is a real disappointment. The finish is all garlic and the aftertaste of artificial sweetener.

I adored this wine, for the dollar, on Night One. On Night Two, I am not even going to finish the bottle. In all fairness, though, this is an under-$10 wine, so it was made to drink fresh, not to rest in a cellar for years. For what it is, cheap wine meant to be drunk right away, it is terrific. Just make sure you have enough thirst, or enough friends, to put it all away the first night.





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Wine Blogging Wednesday- North vs. South

Remy, at The Wine Case, hosts this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday. The theme? North vs. South. So tonight, the Wooden Guys and I will be looking at Garnacha from Spain and Grenache from Australia. I am just going to compare first nights for both. The wines will be reviewed over two nights individually.



First, the Garnacha:

2005 Viñedos y Bodegas Pablo Garnacha Cariñena Menguante

Type Red
Producer Viñedos y Bodegas Pablo
Variety Garnacha
Designation Menguante
Country Spain
Region Aragón
Appellation Cariñena
Price $8.99

Night One

This has a powerful nose, full of blackberry, mulberry, and orange peel.

The palate is extraordinarily complex for an under $10 wine. It starts with blackberries and pepper, then adds orange peel, intense spices and licorice. The wine is medium-bodied and tannins are smooth, adding leather to the finish. The finish is long.

This is absurdly good for an under $10 wine. Is it great? No, not really. Is it great on a price to quality ratio? Heck yeah. Come back on Night Two to see it it stands up.

And now, the Grenache:

2005 Yangarra Estate Grenache Old Vine

Type Red
Producer Yangarra Estate
Variety Grenache
Designation Old Vine
Country Australia
Region South Australia
SubRegion Fleurieu
Appellation McLaren Vale
Price $25.98

The nose opens with some jammy dark fruit, mostly elderberry, with black pepper, earth and brambles. It also has an underlying lingering licorice aroma.

The palate is very true to the nose. The wine opens with jammy dark elderberry and black pepper. It has earth and brambles, giving it underlying depth and keeping it from qualifying as a "fruit bomb." Licorice is more pronounced on the palate than the nose. A bit of dried orange peel appears on the mid-palate. The finish is mid-length and trends away from the fruit and toward black pepper and orange peel.

North versus South

The first obvious difference is the price difference. The Garnacha is under $10, while the Australian Grenache is over $25. The Australian is not two-and-a-half times better than the Spanish. In fact, I think I like the Spanish one better. It is more balanced, offers a far more interesting and entertaining nose, and has a better mid-palate. In the Spanish wine, and Spain is a warm weather country, too, the fruit is not big and jammy. Tannins and acid balance nicely, and the different tastes balance out. On the other hand, the mulberry dominates in the Australian wine, while everything else plays second-fiddle.





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2002 Mas Igneus Priorat Barranc dels Closos

Type: Red
Producer: Mas Igneus
Variety: Red Blend
Designation: Barranc dels Closos
Country: Spain
Region: Catalunya
Appellation: Priorat



I have no idea who the guy behind the wine is, but he and the Big Wooden Guy both think you should give this a try, but be sure to decant it for a long time or cellar it for another year or two, at least.

Night One

The nose is very light, some strawberry and a little rhubarb. If you sniff deeply enough a tiny hint of nutmeg makes an appearance.

The palate opens with strawberries and sour cherries. Some leather shows up on the mid-palate. Finish is mid-length.

Night Two

The nose on Night Two had more to offer. Fruits were more full, spices more clearly identifiable. Strawberries were riper and the rhubarb deeper, joined by a bit of cranberry. Cinammon and nutmeg were more than just a hint now, they were clear and bright.

The initial attack opens with a melange of red fruit- tiny tart wild strawberries, clear little cherries, and cranberries. The fruit sweetens on the mid-palate, changing from tart wild fruit to bigger sweeter fruit stand cherries and strawberries, while keeping the underlying tartness of cranberries. Some vanilla also makes an appearance on the mid-palate. The finish is long and adds a curious after-taste, a fresh sea-side sense of oysters. Tannins are very fine grained and add leather to the finish.

This wine improved significantly from Night One to Night Two. It went from something simple and one-dimensional to something far more complex. I still would not call this great, on night Two. However, I might say the change hints of some real potential after some more time in the cellar. If you have some of this put it away for another year or two, perhaps even three. Then after you open it, come back and tell me if I was right.

2005 Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha Calatayud Viñas Viejas

Type: Red
Producer: Las Rocas de San Alejandro
Variety: Garnacha
Designation: Viñas Viejas
Country: Spain
Region: Aragón
Appellation: Calatayud
Price: $19.99

The color is very dark purple-tinged crimson, but slightly translucent.

The first impression on the nose is fruit and spice, and lots of both. It takes a little longer to separate them out. Cherries, cranberries, and dried orange peel are the fruit. Pepper leads the spice, but there is something else there, too. It's sage. The last smell on the nose is a very light background, adding nutty richness more than the clear smell, of hazelnut liqueur.

Oh gosh that interesting. Give me a minute. The palate is not as sweet as the nose. The fruit is cranberry juice and orange peel, with very little of the cherry from the nose. A little bit of charred meat, plenty of black pepper and toasted pecans make up the mid-palate. Sour cherries and cranberries appear, and then linger for a long time, on the finish, ending with a surprising aftertaste of red licorice. Tannins are very smooth.

It will be interesting to see if some of the unsweetened-cranberry bitterness fades from Night One to Night Two. Join me and we will find out together.

Night Two

Missed it. Sorry, I had a National Championship football game to watch, and my mighty Gators won it all! By Night Three, though, it was over the hill, slightly oxidized, and I can not fairly rate it.

2005 Bodegas Castaño Yecla Solanera Viñas Viejas

Type- Red
Producer- Bodegas Castaño
Variety- Monastrell (60%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%) and Tintorera (15%)
Designation- Solanera Viñas Viejas
Country- Spain
Region- Murcia
Appellation- Yecla
Price $9.99



The Little Wooden Guy is quite enamored of this good wine at a great price.


Night One

The nose on Night One starts with bright red fruit, cherries mostly, with a slight watermelon background. There is also a secondary smell of burnt rubber.

There is greater complexity on the palate. The fruit is still red, but cherries are joined by tart cranberries and wild strawberries. Dusty leather tannins and some smokey meat join the attack. There are several flavors dancing around here, including coffee, cocoa, violets and licorice. Almond skins and cherry pits add a touch of bitterness on the finish. This is a very interesting wine, and an amazing QPR. I can hardly wait to see what happens over night and what it has to offer on Night Two.

Night Two

On Night Two, minerality leaps out of the glass with the first sniff. After than, cherries and a very clear strong smell of fresh-ground nutmeg follow the stones.

The palate is mostly red fruit, tiny translucent wild cherries and strawberries, some cranberries and yes, some watermelon still lurking in the background. There is some minerality and the charred well-done end of a nice prime rib. Tannins are still fine and dusty. The mid-palate again adds a few fleeting flavors, cocoa, flowers and fennel. The finish is sweet and a touch bitter, like fruit, maple and cherry pits all together.

This is good wine, amazingly deep and complex for under $10.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #51- Bodegas Hidalgo Manzanilla La Gitana N.V.

Today's post is brought to you by Wine Blogging Wednesday, hosted this month by 1 Wine Dude, who is not only a great wine blogger, but also the only one who tops "2 Days per Bottle" in link lists. The topic this month? Baked goods:

"Baked Goods" - wines that are deliberately heated, or Madeirized. According to the way-cool wine glossary at RedWineBuzz.com, Madeirized wines describes the "intentional oxidation of grapes in an estufa (hothouses used for this purpose in Madeira, where these wines are made). The resulting wines (typically whites) are sweet and caramelized in taste."

These wines often also have nutty aromas, a honey-like mouthfeel, and distinctive bronzed color. Yumminess! Examples include (of course) Madeira, but also wines in other parts of the world such as Australia's Rutherglen Tokays.

Now, Lenn and I do realize that these wines are not always easy to come by, so we're also allowing sweet Fortified wines into WBW 51(WineDude), which should provide enough options for everyone to contribute.

Bodegas Hidalgo Manzanilla La Gitana N.V.

Vintage N.V. Label 1 of 4
Type White - Fortified
Producer Bodegas Hidalgo
Variety Palomino Fino
Designation Manzanilla La Gitana
Country Spain
Region Andalucía
Appellation Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda
500 ml
$11.95 from Chambers Street Wines

Night One

The color is a very light bright yellow straw.

The nose on this is bright and delightful, fresh apple peel, nuts, and the frothy salty tops of waves on an Atlantic beach. On the palate it is very crisp and tight. The taste on the initial attack is very fresh tart apples dipped in kosher salt, followed by lightly toasted salted almonds. The finish lingers for a long time.

Night Two

The nose has not changed from Night One to Night Two. On the palate it is just as salty, with less fruit and some liquid smoke and toasted nuts. This is incredibly flavorful, but the flavors are unusual in a wine, even a fortified wine. Salt is really the predominant flavor, so if you are not a greek olive and feta fan don't bother. The finish is different, fruity with apples as an aftertaste.

I don't really love this wine. I am, however, quite fascinated by it.

UPDATE- a hat tip to Alex of Eating Leeds for the reminder, for Manzanilla is most definitely a food wine. I drank think with mixed salted nuts and dried fruit (almonds, pistachios, cherries, raisins). Even with the salted nuts this was too salty for my personal taste, but that is most definitely a personal palate observation, not a criticism of the wine itself.

Sembro Tempranillo 2004

Ribera del Duoro
Spain
100% Tempranillo
2004
13.5% Alcohol

Night One

The smell of this wine is absolutely delicious, brown sugar and tea, bing cherries and plums. If I weren't so anxious to drink it, I would eat it immediately. On the palate, this is a very interesting wine. It is medium bodied, balanced nicely between acid and tannins. The taste is almost pinot-like, but without the pinot arc, opening with black tea, cherries and brown sugar, moving to herbs and leather, before finishing with smooth leather and dry fruit.

I am betting this is going to be darned good on Night Two.

Night Two

The nose changed a lot overnight. Now it is a beefy mulberry with black olives and eucalyptus. The palate, too, matured tremendously. It blends black fruit, blackberries and plum skins, with red fruit, cranberries and tart cherries. The mid-palate has smoked meat, brown sugar and softer fruits, leading into a finish with very fine-grained mouth-drying tannins.

This is a very nice bottle of wine, worthy of another five year in the cellar.