Community Tasting Note

JandGCellar wrote:

Saturday, November 24, 2012 - From the get-go this wine stood out, revealing a complex and layered nose: Mushroom, leather and berry jam were at the forefront, accompanied by tea and rhubarb in supporting roles. That's out of the gate; with 20 minutes of air oak and vanilla assert themselves. Forty minutes and the bouquet shifts to cooked pie filling (strawberry) or maybe to the smell you'd find on strawberry hard candy. Once you're past an hour, chocolate begins to show up. By this time the early scents are attenuated, somewhat considerably, but still detectable, especially the jam, rhubarb and leather. The attack is juicy and light (certainly lighter than I expected given some of the heavier notes in the bouquet) with lots of fruit, all dark berries and cherry. The midpalate is consistent with the attack, the berries and cherry (especially the latter) are out in full force but are kept from turning the wine into a one-note wonder by a lovely metallic yet vegetal quality that I associate with steamed artichoke hearts and asparagus. There's also an undertone of star anise that rounds out the midpalate and creates a sort of flavor-triangle that really balances nicely. This wine is tremendously refreshing and eminently gulpable, especially once it's got some air. The finish is long and shows a lot of stamina. The big note was cocoa, lending the finish a pleasantly bitter flavor that was balanced by a rich cured meat quality along with some green olive. I drank this wine with a sandwich made with cotto, black forest ham and provolone with a side of kettle cooked potato chips. I was hoping to test the ever popular claim that Rioja is a great picnic wine. Test passed. The juicy tartness of the wine went head to head with the richness of the meat, cheese and chips while the wine's spice and vegetable notes played well with the seasonings and greens of the sandwich. This is a great wine, and I'm anxious to purchase several more bottles both to explore other pairings and to revisit this wine as it ages through its drink window.

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