Another week, another wine or two. This week we went to the cellar and pulled a couple of favorites. One is an excellent Toro from Spain an the other an equally excellent, in fact even better, Rioja – also from Spain. It seems it was a Spanish week in Rhode Island. Habla Espanol?
Here are the wines and the tasting notes:
Spain Time! – Toro and Rioja
Wine: 2007 Numanthia Termes Winery Location: Spain
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: Feb 2, 2013
Tasting Notes: This is a very good wine. Numanthia is in the Toro region in Spain and produces three wines. This is their lower end product. The Numanthia and Termanthia command higher prices and get great ratings. The estate describes their higher end lines as powerful and the “treasure of Toro”. They describe this wine as “fruity and vibrant”. I’d like to taste their flagship wines because if this is fruity and vibrant the other ones must be powerhouses.
The Termes is dark purple/black. There is a big nose of black fruit with tons of fruit on the palate. I got some distinct blueberry at the end. It is full bodied and finished very long. The tannins are sweet and smoothly integrated. This is a classy bottle of wine. If you like Spanish Tempranillo based wine you’ll like this. Very nice indeed.
Price Point – We paid about $20 on sale a few years ago. More like $30-$40 now. The Termanthia checks in at around $150, so try this one for a taste of the Numanthia estate.
Would We Buy It? – Yes. If we could find it around $25 again we would definitely add a few more bottles to the cellar. This is in the once or twice a month price category. We’re down to one bottle (much sadness).
*****************************************************************************
Wine: 2004 Marques de Murrieta Rioja Reserva Winery Location: Spain, Rioja
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: Feb 3, 2013
Tasting Notes: We love Rioja, and consider it to be on of the most consistently outstanding wine regions. We’ve had many good ones over the years, and this is no exception. We originally had this at a restaurant on Cape Cod and subsequently bought a case. It was about $17 a bottle, and represented good value. It has improved over time, and we just drank our last bottle. This is really good stuff right now.
Deep red in the glass, the nose is complex, with some floral hints and some meaty undertones. The palate is even more complex. We got buttered popcorn, peppermint patty (Cheri – I couldn’t taste it), balsamic vinegar and braised beef. I pulled more distinct flavors out of this than I usually get in a case of different wines. It was very long and full bodied. The tannins are smooth but still present, and this has a long life ahead of it yet. Really, really good stuff. Just reinforces my impression of Rioja.
Price Point – We paid $17 years ago. Could not find the 2004 on wine-searcher, just a 2007 Reserva for $28. If you stumble on this somewhere – buy it.
Would We Buy It? – As much as I could find. In the once or twice a week or once or twice a month price range, doesn’t matter. This is serious wine.
************************************************************************************
There you have it. These are both excellent wines you could serve at any occasion and be proud. Even better is to drink them all up yourself!
A votre sante!
Leave a Reply