Friday Flights! Spanish Reds!
Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!
It’s time, once again, to visit our wonderful friends in Spain! This week it’s Spanish reds. . .and one Spanish Pink! Well, it’s more of a reddish pink. More red than pink, but still not quite red. But I digress. We’ll call it “Rosato.”
My direct exposure to the Spanish wine world was a brief visit to the Sherry region in Southwestern Spain. Not speaking much Spanish, the only wines I could order while I was there was Una Cervesa, which is a fizzy, yellow wine made with hops and barley and Una Mas Cervesa, which was much like the previous one, only seemed somehow better. Sherry, the Sherry region’s hallmark wine (. . .) is a completely different style of wine I am destined to learn more about another day, and a different tasting. The different styles of Sherry that I’ve tried ranged from almond-flavored-paint-thinner to watered-down-maple-flavored-syrup. I imagine there are better Sherries out there, considering that people drink them, so I won’t rule them out as all bad, but for this tasting I’ll just rule them out.
Sherry aside, Spanish wines have become my new favorites. In the past (perhaps quite a while in the past) most of the Spanish wines I had were probably from Spain’s most famous region, Rioja, which are made with the Tempranillo grape, and tend to be lighter-bodied. I found the wines a bit lackluster and thin. Since then, the Spanish wine industry has experienced continuous growth, and on our end of things we’ve been exposed to more interesting and far better wines than the lackluster Riojas of days past. With that in mind, I’ve skipped Rioja altogether, to experience some of the lesser known, but certainly not “lesser” regions of Spain.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of excellent Riojas out there, and in the near future, I’ll put together a full Rioja tasting, to see how things are progressing over there. Until then, enjoy other Spanish Reds! Better than Rioja!
So Friday, April 9th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:
Spanish Reds! Better Than Rioja!
Jane’ Ventura 2002 Rosato, Penedes
Castano 2002 Monastrel, Yecla
Penascal 2000 Tempranillo, Castilla y Leon
Ilagares 2000 Sellecion, Navarra
Agapito Rico 2002 Carchello, Jumilla
The Extra-Special Premium Pours:
Jane’ Ventura 2001 Margallo, Penedes
Alejandro Fernandez 2000 El Vinculo, La Mancha
A good deal at $10 for the first 5, and $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours.
Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!
Next week is French Wines of the Languedoc/Rousillion!
M