I've been on a red wine kick of late. Poor Sam Adams and his buddy, Stoli are just sittin' back being ignored. Anyway, I'm always on the lookout for some new, fun, tasty (and preferably inexpensive) red wines and I've found a few more to add to my Ubertasty list.
2010 Bodegas Zabrin Ateca Garnacha de Fuego Old Vines. It has a black label with orange flames on it and just says Granancha de Fuego on it. 100% Grenache. WOW!! Straight from the bottle upon opening, this needs little to no air to open up. Lots of dark cherry and black plum flavors with a hint of vanilla-y oak. Smooth through the whole drinking experience. An inky purple color so don't spill any. A great value at $10.
2010 Apothic Red Winemaker's Blend. I've seen, heard and read quite a bit about this wine so I had to try it. It is kind of a whack blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Syrah. Garnet with a purple tinge. Upon opening, the nose was like fresh crushed raspberries, but tasted nasty!! Bright red fruit up front but the wine was seriously disjointed. After about 4 hours it started to come together and was actually better the next day when it lived up to all the great things I've "consumed" about it from various sources. Raspberries, blackberries, chocolate and oak dominate. Think this was about $11.
2010 Primal Roots. Another California blend that is the same as above minus the Cabernet Sauvignon. Except for the fact that this only needs about a half hour to open up instead of a day like the Apothic, it is about the same wine...maybe a little lighter bodied and maybe a touch more acidic and $2 less.
2009 Tarima Monastrell. Monastrell is the grape variety, but don't let a "no name" grape scare you off...it is Spanish for the more well known French Mourvedre. This bottle was the least expensive of the lot and will easily hang with them. Blueberries, red licorice, a little earthiness and chocolate and is tasty straight from the "cork out". It sees no oak, but instead the winemaker lets it sit on its skins in stainless steel to obtain color, flavor and depth. And if I'm correct, this has the highest alcohol content of the lot at around 15%, but you'd never know it.
May the bottom of your wine glass be kissed by the sun :) :)
1 comments:
That's interesting to me about the Apothic Red. I tried it a while back and really enjoyed it, then tried it again later and thought it was so-so. I'm guessing the first time maybe have been a 2009.
But never thought about trying it again the next day. Will do, if I can keep it around for that long! ;-)
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