Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW) #35: Passionate Spain
Published by foodette July 6th, 2007 in Blogging Community, Wine.
I first learned about Wine Blogging Wednesday, aka WBW, from Sonadora of Wannabe Wino. The gist of it is that a whole bunch of wine-soaked bloggers can write about a wine in a sort of universal tasting event. Every month a new theme is picked by the creator of WBW, Michelle, of My Wine Education. Both Sonadora and Michelle are very knowledgeable and well-versed when it comes to blogging about wine. I always enjoy reading their posts. For rules about this month’s WBW, please click here.
When I learned that July’s post was to be about Spanish wines, I felt the urge to contribute. I just read in Businessweek’s “Executive Life” section that Spanish wines will most likely be the next big thing this year, and I have just begun to start enjoying them myself. They are (for now, at least) very inexpensive and very spicy and robust. So, without further ado, and understanding that I don’t know a ton about writing about wine, here is my review of a Spanish wine.
Wine: El Miracle Tempranillo Shiraz (Vincente Gandia)
Region: Valencia, Spain
Year: 2004
Alcohol: 13%
Aged: 7 months in second fill French oak
Grapes: 65% Tempranillo; 35% Shiraz
Price: $8.99
This Tempranillo Shiraz has a real cork closure. When I first opened it, it had a very strong alcohol smell, and it needed a lot of time to breathe. That first night that I drank it, it was a bit strong and spicy for my taste. However, the flavors really mellowed after a day or so. Tonight, I can smell black cherries and currants. It is still very strong and spicy - you can taste the dark fruit as well. The mouth feel is very robust. It leaves the spicy, cherry taste on the tongue. It would work very well with a nice hunk of creamy cheese and tart apples and grapes to balance the flavor. It would go perfectly with a heavy dinner of red meat as well. Overall, I definitely like this wine. So far, all of the Spanish reds that I have tasted have been very spicy. I think they tastes best after being opened and decanted for a while.
I look forward to reading other reviews. I hope that my first wine review reads well. I am happy to hear suggestions!
Re: Spanish wines, certainly seem to be the ‘in’ thing right now! After France, it seems to be Spain all the way for food or drink now…
Glad you decided to join in! WBW is fun, it often gets me to drink outside my normal sphere of CA wines. Sounds like you had better luck than I did with the Spanish wines…I’m almost tempted to venture back out to the store because the wine I picked turned out to be fairly blah.
Shantanu - I completely agree that Spain seems to be the new hot country right now. From Tapas Bars to Spanish Wine, everyone wants a piece of Spain.
Sonadora - It is fun! And, I am just starting to learn about wine, so I think participating in WBW will help me learn about the different regions and grapes out there.
What a fantastic event!
Reading your wine review is interesting and I’m still learning to learn how to taste the subtle nuances in wine. I’ll continue reading your reviews and maybe pick up a bottle to try to catch some of the notes you mentioned.
Don’t sell yourself short. That was a great review and you spoke very well about the wine!
Darlene, I would love to hear your review of the same wine. Let me know if you do purchase it!
Erika, thanks so much, I really appreciate your kind words. Maybe I need to take a wine class to really hone the skill of wine-blogging.
Hi Foodette! I just wanted to correct something in your post - I simply can’t take the credit for WBW. WBW was created exactly 3 years ago next month by Lenn of LennDevours (http://www.lenndevours.com). It’s his brilliant idea, not mine. Each month, he pulls a host from his gigantic list of volunteers, thus the hosting duties rotate from one blogger to another.
Great review of the Tempranillo blend! We’re trying to get our round-up posted by Monday. And shortly thereafter, look for an announcement from Lenn, who is hosting the 3-yr anniversary edition. Who knows what he has up his sleeve?
Cheers!
Michelle,
Thank you for the correction! My apologies to both you and Lenn! It is a great idea, and I look forward to all of the many types of wine I will try as I continue to participate.
Thanks again!
I’m new here, just wanted to say hello and introduce myself.