Need an easy dinner for a Friday night? Cheese, charcuterie, some good bread, and of course some wine. For us, it's typically Spanish themed - some aged Manchego cheese, Iberico ham, and one of my favorites - drunken goat cheese. Wine pairing in this case is easy and no big surprise - Spanish! In this case I cracked open a bottle I'd been saving from our last Spain trip from the Basque part of Rioja - Rioja Alavesa.
Obtained from: Purchased at Winery
Price: $100
Wino4Life Category: Splurge Wine
Aeration before tasting: Just a swirl or two, no special aeration.
Cork Condition: Natural cork - no defects or issues.
Appearance: Clear, dark purple in color.
Aroma: Surprisingly restrained based on the deep, dark color, some red and black fruit with a hint of vanilla.
Taste: Also quite restrained, well balanced, but not very complex.
Taste: Also quite restrained, well balanced, but not very complex.
The Grade: I give this one a B-. Sadly, this wine was quite disappointing at this price point. It worked fine with our ham and cheese, and we had a great night, but I expected so much more from this wine. Bai Gorri makes a great Crianza level wine, for closer to $15 a bottle. I would pick the Crianza every time. The vintage of 2009 was a very good one in Rioja, so perhaps this wine would have benefited from more aging, and maybe a day of decanting would have opened it up more. Since I had only one bottle, I may never know...such is the way with the wonderful world of wine! Cheers!!!
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