Wednesday, January 09, 2008

#3-6 in one Sitting

I honestly didn't mean to cover 4 grapes in one sitting, but I did. I think I feel downright dirty and will have to revisit many of these varietals when I can. Here is how it happened--I found myself at the liquor store, nearly panicking at the variety of varietals. I picked up an Hungarian wine but put that aside for later. I settled on a wine from Forte de Valle (Valley of the Fort, I guess) from the Yecla DOC in Spain. Little did I know that it was a blend that covered 4 varietals--56% Merlot, 24% Mouvedre, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Petit Verdot.

Varietal #3 Merlot
Vatietal #4, Mourverde (dog strangler in French??)
Varietal #5, Cabernet Sauvignon
Varietal #6, Petit Verdot

The wine--Casa De Las Espacias, 2004 Forte del Valle, Yecla DOC

With a deep red olor (likely from the Petite Verdot), but not quite inky, this is a pretty wine in the glass The nose is a little different--almost smells of anise??? The flavor is straight up the middle of the tongue with some pronounced Tannins when swirled around the mouth. There is some density -almost meatiness to the wine, similar to Jumilla district wines--the terroir is definitely there. We are definitely not in California anymore--and it reminded me of many of the wines we had when we were in Spain in 2003. So if you like somewhat challenging wines that reflect on Spain and you like paying under $10 for a bottle, this one would be right up your alley

1 comment:

thewineauxs said...

We've been stuck at #78 for a while now, but I think I'm going to start up again - so close yet so far away.

Anyway, if you can find a bottle of Sokol Blosser Evolution grab it - it's a white blend of NINE grapes and runs under $15.