This was quite an interesting wine: made from Albillo and Macabeo, it exuded strong scents of very ripe red apples, pears, toasted nuts and a sherry-like tone. Similar flavours with a touch of savouriness on the palate. Medium to medium plus acidity; medium length. Would have been a lot tastier with some spanish anchovies!
Appearance: Beautiful garnet core with a cherry-red rim.
Nose: Perfumed nose with strong aromas of ripe dark cherries, cinnamon, cloves and spices. Pronounced scents of oak and vanilla.
Palate/ Flavour: Taste of dark fruit, mocha and chocolate on the palate with a long finish. Strong oak and buttery aftertaste. Nice, supple tannins but should improve with some cellaring time.
Comments: Made of 85% tempranillo and 15% of graciano & garnacha tinta. There’s room for improvement with some aging as the tannins and fruit level are still pretty high. Nibbled some Munster Les Chaume and crackers with this spanish rioja – the combination was wonderful.
It would have been perfect if SluttyLinh actually drinks coz it would have been an excellent pairing with the nicely done mushroom omelette at Windows Cafe this morning. Anyway, I’ve been feeling a little under the weather and it didn’t hurt to have some sparkles.
Appearance: Nice bubbles (though it didn’t last very long), with a yellowish hue and pale rim.
Nose: Intense mineral tones hit the nose on first sniff, but that turned into a pleasant flowery notes with hints of green mango/ apples. Slight brettanomyces aroma detected but disappeared in the glass after awhile – not sure if it was intentional.
Palate/ Flavour: Off-dry with a touch of honeyed character and ripe white nectarines. Medium (-) acidity and body. Slightly creamy mousse and finished with a medium (-) length.
Comments: Wonderful sunday afternoon drink with a sweltering heat of 34degC outside. Good value for money too. Simple, easy to drink, and pleasing to most people I would think.
