A Wine Moment!

Here I am again...

This time I wanted to share with you a wine moment.

Last week we tasted some wines with good friends.  It was a great experience.  All selected wines were good on their own way... all with specific characteristics and personality...

I will briefly describe each of them and will steal some words from my husband who was very enthusiastic about the outcome of this activity.  So the words with quote marks and blue font are from my DH.

We started with Cabo de Hornos Special Reserve 2003, 100% CAB (Cabernet Sauvignon grape).  It's a Chilean wine made with the burdeos style.  "Strong, but subtle delicate tannins... a very different Chilean"...  In my own words, it was very very very good...  mmmmmm...

The second one we tasted it without knowing what it was.  My DH covered it so we weren't influenced by name or price.  After tasting it and talking about its greatness, he asked us if we liked it and the price we would pay for a bottle.  Our answers were from $20 to $30.  We found out it was La Planta 2009.  I've talked about this wine before and had recommended it...  but 2009 is THE great year.  It's 100% Tempranillo grape.  Great value for the price (very economic - about $10).   This wine is the cosecha from Arzuaga... so when you enjoy this wonderful wine, you can imagine how the crianza, reserva and gran reserva will probably be evolving... they will be kings.  "It's a young one with maturity in which you expect great achievements, of course it's Arzuaga!".

Then we continued with 2009's, and tasted Carraovejas Crianza 2009, with a blend of grapes:  Tinto Fino 94%, CAB 5% and Merlot 1%.  For me this blend was the best of the night.  A well balanced wine, great fruit flavor, but with the right strength to know it is a great wine for most wine lovers.  "A good balance of ripe black fruit, acidity and tannins; delicious!".

Fourth wine of the night was Pesquera Crianza 2009, a 100% Tempranillo.  Strong wine... I personally enjoyed it but think it will be better in a few years (well... the one we tasted will not, but the other bottles from same year, you know... LOL!).  "Ribera del Duero lives in it, a powerful red wine with an alcohol level that will allow to age without any issues...  but we need to wait."

Finally, we ended up with an older wine.  Condado de Haza, Cosecha 1999, 100% Tempranillo.  It was a great choice to close the night.  It has 12 years in aging and it was worth it.  "Twelve years that has not passed in vain; a wine that has aged/softened very well and it is on its right maturity point... classic."

You know... as I always say... I'm no expert... but the only way to learn is by sharing.

Salud!