Fresh blackberry and currant on the nose, with faint nutmeg spice. Violets and dark berries, laced with a faint strain of vanilla come together to finish with a solid, abrupt tannin finish. A chewiness, with peppercorns and aromatic herbs, lingers after the finish. A nifty little wine, well balanced and nimble, how a Mazda Miata might compare to a Ferrari.
- Rating: Everyday Red
- Name: Tamaral Roble 2013
- Winery: Bodegas y Viñedos Tamaral
- Region: Ribera del Duero
- Country: Spain
- Varietals: Tempranillo
- Price: $17
- Where to Buy: Calvert Woodley Wines & Spirits
Mazuelo, Garnacha, and Syrah. A powerful iteration of the Montsant DO. It comes on strong with bursting black fruit, currant, rose petals, and leather flavors and a full mouthfeel. The tannins are slighter than most Catalan wines, but present enough to provide some structure. Strawberry and flint notes on the nose are subtle, with everything stretching out into a nice, warm peppery finish. This is a great Everyday Red at $13-16 at your local Whole Foods.
I’m not a fan of the California wine makers who try to make every red grape they produce into an in-your-face, high alchohol, meaty, power-hungry Cabernet Sauvignon. And I find it particularly off-putting when they do this to Pinot Noir, which is such a delicate varietal.
Chocolate, cherry, and raspberry on the nose. Cocoa and tart berry pie flavors and tight, tannic mouthfeel. This is a big beast of a wine. Gorgeous and effervescent (figuratively, not literally). Musty leather and tobacco come together with muscular tannins to make a full body that’s better when slightly warmer than I normally drink a red – right at 70-72 Fahrenheit. Goes great with just about anything, but particularly robust and rich Spanish hams or paella. I picked this one up at Astor in SoHo NYC for around $20-24, and will do so again.
A powerful nose of baked berry pie, leather, crushed flowers with a hint of jasmine at the end. Some strawberry notes develop as it sits open in the decanter. A really amazing bouquet worth lingering on. Chewy leather, cocoa, and dark red fruit at the front end with a powerful, typically Catalan, tannic finish with stone and slate. This is a fascinating and powerful expression of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. About 30-45 minutes after decanting the nose shifted to a strong maple note – sheer stunner. Truly a roller-coaster; it opens, concentrates, opens again. A deep black garnet color. Cherry popsicle near the end. Yes, I said cherry popsicle. Melted. Cherry. Popsicle. I picked this up in Barcelona on Patricia’s recommendation. Damn glad I did. Wine Searcher can’t seem to find a bottle in the U.S.
Dark cherry, cassis, and white pepper notes on the nose right out of the bottle. Rich, bold leather and balsamic notes, some creamy vanilla flavors on the front end with tight tannins bringing up the rear shutting it all down just before you get bowled over. This has been one of my favorites for a few years now and I’m working my way through the final few bottles of a case I’ve been nursing. An hour after the cork pops and after some of the 15% alcohol burns off it opens a bit further, the tannins combine with a creamy cocoa note and chewy leather. The nose takes on a faint greenness, like crushed flowers. It’s more common to run into this wine’s cousins by Fabre Montmayou – the Mendoza Malbecs are nice, but can’t quite keep up with this Rio Negro, Patagonia Cab. I believe this ran around $20-25/ bottle when I bought it. Attempts to find it in the myriad, noisy online wine resources (ya know, the reason why I started this blog in the first place) ran on several later vintages hovering in the $16/ bottle range.
Posto Novo 