I seem to have adopted the Spanish standby — mañana — as my m.o. for this blog already! I keep starting posts and saying to myself, "eh, I'll finish it tomorrow..." So far, no good!
In part, it's because we're really just settling in, and in part, because our budget isn't allowing for extravagant tapeos through town yet. In short, I'm low on material! (The blogger's quintessential dilemma.)
Here are a few of the wines we've had at home recently, with some quick impressions. Hopefully, I'll have something more substantive soon. It won't be mañana, though, since it's our first Spanish holiday, and we'll be taking a day-trip to some Roman ruins.
First, a quick explanation. We've been buying wine two ways: at the
local supermarket and a cute bottle shop in the covered market near our
house. With the supermarket wines, we've been looking at the extreme
values (1-2€), whereas the bottle shop we're exploring for decent wines
for Shabbat, and trying to stay under 10€.
(Sorry, I'm having technical issues with my 'puter, so you'll have to turn yours sideways for now)
Vizconde de la Villa NV, Toro, 6,40€ (USD 9.99) *** — This was a Shabbat wine. I was interested to buy this when the lady at the shop recommended it, since my only exposure to Toro has been with super-extracted, alcoholic bombs. This was her second recommendation — her first being a Tempranillo/Cab blend from Enate, a winery I was already familiar with — when I asked for something under 10€. Even though the stated alcohol is 14.5%, this wine was very approachable and balanced. The back label says it was aged in American oak 15 months, but it must have been used, because the oak was not at all evident. Interestingly, I did not find a vintage anywhere on the bottle, so I'm assuming it's a multi-year blend, which might account for some of the complexity. At this price, this one is worth buying again, even if, like all these others, it is co-op juice, and doesn't quite evince a taste of place as it otherwise might. 100% Tinta de Toro (aka Tempranillo).
Don Mendo Crianza 2005, DO Cariñena, 1,78€ (USD 2.66) 1/2 star — I was curious to try this supermarket wine because we hadn't yet had any Garnacha blends (this one was Temp/Garnacha/Cariñena), and I didn't know anything about this DO. I'll spare you the suspense: it sucked. When I first popped it open, I thought, "maybe this is something Amberly would like," as she is fond of what she calls "Kool Aide" wines like sweet Barberas, etc. Well, this was sweet alright. I turned it around to see if it was meant to be so, but there was no indication that this co-op had intended to make a dessert wine. It was undrinkable on its own, and barely passable with the tomato sauce for dinner. For 79 cents less, the Joven from La Mancha we had on our first night was much better!
Pago de Obanos Crianza 2004, Navarra 4,99€ (USD7.49) ***1/2 — Another Shabbat wine, this one was on promotion at the bottle shop. At first I winced at the addition of Cab and Merlot to Tempranillo, and it was weird to have those characteristics accessorize the now familiar flavor of Temp. But it was tasty! It gets an extra half star for being the wine we've had the most of in one sitting — just two fingers left at the end of dinner!
Until mañana... : )
Cool that you do it up for Shabbat wine, vs the usual weekday tintos. Te pregunto, entonces, que tipos de vinos vas a tomar para Hanukah?
What's the name of your local bottle shop? And where in Sevilla are you residing?
Posted by: Joe M | 06 December 2007 at 04:23 AM
Hey there, Joe! For Chanukah, we had some Cazón al Adobo (see next post) with La Gitana... ;)
We are living off of Calle Feria, in between La Alameda de Hércules and El Muro de la Macarena. The bottle shop is in the covered market on Feria — I'll have to go back and look at the name.
Did you spend any time here?
Posted by: David C | 10 December 2007 at 07:31 AM
I didn't spend too much time up that way at all. Too bad - it's supposed to be a really cool neighborhood. I lived in Triana, as did most of my friends; they also were in nervion, los remedios, Macarena and in el centro. I think I am on something of a palo cortado bender of late! Hope to taste some Hidalgo Palo Cortado viejo soon at work. Happy Hanukah, or last day (?) of hanukah that is.
Posted by: Joe M | 11 December 2007 at 12:14 AM
Where in Triana did you live? We're looking at apartments there, and would love a rec. for areas to look for and those to avoid...
Thx!
Posted by: David C | 18 December 2007 at 07:10 AM