Wine Talk by Art of the Table
August 18, 2010
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So we've all witnessed the increase in popularity of Spanish wine for the past decade. Much of this can be attributed to the rise in popularity of Spanish foods and tapas style restaurants.
Also, fine wine shops and wine blogs/magazines/columns have really taken to Spanish wine being a desirable product to have and write about...including us.
Almost always a bang for your buck, Spanish wine delivers in every price category. Value wines from Spain, particularly red varietals, have seen huge increases...and not just from Rioja. Actually, Ribera del Duero, Jumilla and Campo de Borja have benefited greatly from the rise of U.S. sales of Spanish wine.
The wines vary greatly from producer to producer and the quality has increased as well. If you love wine, we are positive there is a Spanish wine in our store that will suit your palate. Value driven and/or otherwise.
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Quo Grenache
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Brand new to our  excited rack this week is this friendly Spanish Garnacha from the Campo de Borja region. It sees absolutely no time on oak and is 100% fermented and aged in glass lined cement tanks, and only native yeasts are used to ferment Quo.
When we tasted this wine, we were somewhat blown away. The quality for the price is sensational and the mouthfeel and finish is very appropriate for food and just plain old drinking. Great wine for everyday use. And priced at $11 per bottle retail, it's very friendly for case purchases as well (Buy 12 bottles of this and it's only $9.35 a bottle!)
Tasting Notes:
Raspberry and cherry hit the nose with a hint of earth and fresh wild purple flowers. Cherry follows through on the immediate palate with touches of curing tobacco, raspberry glaze and top soil after a fresh rain. The fruit powers this wine, with small reminders of earth and it's dee-lic-iouuuusss! Pair it with slow roasted beef tips in garlic and shallots, topped with Cana de Cabra (goat cheese from Spain!) and crumbled fried plantains.
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Mas dels Frares Priorat
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| Ooooy Mama!!! This is good juice. 50% Carinena (Carignan), 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Garnacha (Grenache). All three varietals are fermented separately and macerated for 20 days. This creates a huge body and enormous mouthfeel. The Carinena and Garnacha are native grapes to Spain and are the contributing factors to the intensity and how big this wine is. Believe it or not, the Cab is used to balance the wine and mellow out the backbone of the other two varietals. It's only a 2008 but is ready to drink now. It will age and will mellow out, but there is something strangely attractive about the way it drinks now. It's a very embracing wine that is hard to put down.
(and it's from Priorat; it's hard to find that retailing
around $20 a bottle)
Tasting Notes:
Expressive black cherry, tar, tobacco, dry soil, extracted fruit preserve and a little funk tempt the nose and lead into a brooding palate of cherry and cacao beans with cedar and leathery tannins that kindly assault the entire mouth. The finish is passionate and I can't think of a better pair than a grilled leg of lamb with pureed black mission figs slow cooked with yogurt,
garlic and loads of parsley.
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Las Lilas Vinho Verde
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|  We have a new Vinho Verde in! And guess what, it's pretty special. Not Spanish, but from Portugal, it took us a long while to find one that we felt we could strongly stand behind. Here's our stand behind!
Las Lilas is a blend of Loureiro and Treixadura. Very fresh and effervescent, notes of white fruits and very floral. It has good intensity, and an elegant mouthfeel and finish. Really, it's a green wine with all the goods. Pick up a few bottles and sip on a hot day. It's still that time of year you know... |
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The Staff @ Art of the Table
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