Tierra Encantada Vineyards and Winery

 

I recently opened a bottle of Tierra Encantada's 2004 Tempranillo at an April Verch concert at the home of Ralph Estes and MarthaBurk. The music was outstanding, but so was the wine. I paired it with a spicy Italian tortellini I made, and was impressed by the black cherry and rich silky tannins. This wine opened up after 30 minutes with spicy, rich red berry, and a hint of tartness on the palate. It kept going strong while I chomped on a selection of brownies trying to determine which recipe was the best. Right, you'd almost believe that.

Many red wines pair well with chocolate, that's why so many tasting rooms offer it with their Cab and Merlot. This Tempranillo offered nuances with the chocolate I hadn't noticed during the main course. I was so impressed I went back for another brownie to make sure I'd properly identified the nuances. Yup, I'll bet you don't believe that reason either.

This was the first time I had a chance to enjoy a good portion of the bottle rather than small samples at the winery. Although wine tasting does give one the idea of what a wine is like, nothing replaces the knowledge gained when drinking a bottle with food over an extended period of time, and noting how the wine opens up, goes with various foods, and ages over an hour or two. That's why I give this one a very high recommendation. At $15 a bottle, this one has value stamped all over it.

Check out their wines at this website. Tierra Encantada or enchanted land it is well named, and the wines are available at many local wine shops. It's not just the land you'll find enchanting.