Mo Salinas, Mo Betta

This evening, a 2006 Bodegas Salinas Mo Monastrell. $11 at LA Wine Company. A big wine which, at first, I thought was simple, but actually has some nice complexity. A mix of flavors: cherry, black pepper, licorice, blueberry and significant tannin. According to a little research, this wine is mostly Monastrell (which accounts for the tannin) as well as some Tintorera Garnacha (also known as Alicante) and some Cabernet Sauvignon. A solid wine, and probably a good example of this style from Spain for a good price, but not my favorite flavor profile.

Priorat, better than it sounds

So Priorat is a region in Spain that really has helped in Spain's resurgence into quality wines. It was a forgotten wine growing region that was rediscovered as recently as the early 90's (I hope I recall that correctly.) And, boy, am I happy they planted there. Very consistent wine out of that area. The wines shipped to the US are generally in the $35-80 range, so to find one for $17 was an exciting and rare thing. And this one once again proved why Priorat is a wonderful area for wine producing.

This was a 2006 Viticultors del Priorat Vega Escal ($17 at LA Wine Company). Blend of 60% Carignan, 30% Grenache, 10% Syrah - blends are normal for wines from Priorat. Really good stuff - lots of oomf, but not overwhelming. Nice darker fruit, with a nice amount of blueberry, which is common for Priorat wines. Very nice length and complexity.

We will definitely buy some more - really liked this stuff. If you can find it, grab it.

Another White!

First of all, it turns out Tony Franklin was the bass player on the first album by the awesome heavy metal band "Blue Murder." I totally got that wrong this evening.

Well it is rare that we both love a white wine, but this one is wonderful... and inexpensive. A 2007 Burgans Albarino, $11 at LA Wine Company, and I think widely available. Easy drinking, refreshing, wonderful acidity. From Rias Baixas, Spain. It is made in a town famous for seafood and this wine is made to pair seamlessly with it. It certainly would, but we drank it on it's own and it was quite nice on a hot July day.

Go buy this. Drink it. Tell me I'm wrong. Like I was about Tony Franklin.

How do I pronounce the name of this wine?

Seriously, I simply don't know.  I will issue an official "attaboy" or "attagirl" to whomever can tell me.  Ready?  The name is Jarrarte.  Tricky, because it's from Spain and they do funny things with "J's."  

Tonight's wine is a 2003 Jarrarte Rioja.  Found this about a year ago at Sepulveda Wine Company for about $10 a bottle.  We loved it and quickly drank through it; Rachel had to dig the internet to find it elsewhere for about $15 a bottle.  We liked it so much, we paid the extra money and thus we have some tonight.  No info on the label, so I had to do a little research which proved to be tricky.  Listed on the back is the name "Jorge Ordonez" - nothing came up about him.  In small print on the front was "Bodega Abel Mendoza" which is the actual producer of the wine - that yielded some surprising results.  I found this wine online for as much as $32!  Since I bought it for $10 originally, I feel pretty smart.  That is if this is the same wine... I found another wine with the same name, same producer, different label.  I think it may be the same wine but a "joven" (young) version.  Gotta love wine - wonderful as it is confusing.

Between the taste and reading online, seems like it's Tempranillo, I think.  Again, couldn't find information that made me certain.  Really easy drinking wine, but has some nice depth to it.  Lots of earth and dark cherry on the nose, even a bit musty, in a good way.  Taste has more of the same and some spice.  Nice finish - really polished.  Boy we like this stuff.  I doubt we'd buy it for $30 since we don't often drink wines at that price, but it's pretty darn good.

.......annnnnnnnd we are back.

Sorry for the horrendous gap in blogging. Have no fear though... even though no blogging occurred, we continued to drink wine.

Let's get right back to it.  We return to Spain, specifically to Campo de Borea. Tonight, we are imbibing a 2007 Masia D Bielsa Garnacha Vinas Viejas (grenache old vines).  For the life of me, I can't recall where I bought this, but according to the interweb thingy, it goes for about $12 or so.  On the label, this wine is listed as "joven" which means it was bottled the year after the vintage (which mean it may or may not have been put in oak barrels) and is meant to be drunk young, within a few years of release.  Can you tell I'm back in wine class?

The color is super purple - nose has a bit of spice and medium dark fruit - think I smell a little oak.  The taste is quite nice even if it is fairly one dimensional.  That intense berry fruit which is fairly typical of the Spanish garnachas.  Kind of a yucky finish - a bit sour and what my mouth thinks in tannic, but can't be - this wine probably didn't get much oak and it's grenache, which is not too tannic.  Nothing too special or unique but OK juice for $12 (if that's what I paid).

Now get out there and drink!

G5 is not a jet

Tonight, we return to what seems to be our favorite place, Spain.  The wine is a 2007 Vinos Sin Ley G5 from Madrid ($12 from LA Wine Co.)  Poking around online, I found this on the website for the wines importer (oleimports.com)...

"Vinos Sin-Ley “Wines Without Law”in translation.  The twofold objective of Vinos Sin-Ley is to create “new wines” that are value oriented.  The concept, driven by creative innovation using non-conventional methods of harvesting, fermenting, blending, ageing and labeling, results with wines processing new 

fresh fruit driven flavors that are different from those achieved in the past. Composed of a group of young winemakers from different regions in Spain, the wines crafted at Vinos Sin-Ley are value oriented, driven by experimentation and innovative insight shared by their philosophy. They meet twice ayear to set in place new 

projects of mutual interest and shared knowledge of the winemaking techniques implemented."

This bottle is kind of cool - it has a bunch of info on the back of the label about the grape (100% grenache), the soil, the climate, the vine... all kinds of good stuff - I wish all bottles were like this. Hopefully you can check out the posted photo.

Most importantly, this is a tasty wine.  A nice bright fruit component (cherry, raspberry) but none of the sugary fruit you get with some of the Aussie wines.  Nice length.  The word savory seems to apply here.  Not over oaked.  Big alcohol (14.5%), but it didn't taste like it.  For some reason, it reminded me of a beaujolais - lots of fruit and almost no oak.

Definitely try this if you get a chance.