Mood:
brightTopic: Bartending
Because of detox, I didn't get a chance to fill you in on the wines from my final class a few weeks ago...until now.
Although we tasted many Spanish wines that evening, my favorite was the 2008 Los Dos by Almira.
This wine is grown in the Monte Alto Vineyard, with clay soil. This wine is 85% Garnacha and 15% Syrah. While the varietal Garnache is new to me, it is a synonym of Grenache, which isn't new to me—in fact, it's quite delicious.
It is one of the most widely planted varieties in the world, but conditions are favorable in hot and dry conditions like those in Spain, southern France, and California. Since it tends to lack tannins, acid, and color, it is often blended with Syrah, Carignan and Cinsaut.
Although Grenache is the French term for Garnacha, it was grown in Spain before it made its way to France. So there!
During my research, I saw a website listed this wine as a "midweek" wine that won't break your budget. True, but a little harsh. Later, the website went on to say:
"This is not a wine to ponder in your finest stems but gulp from water glasses with pizza or hamburger."
Umm, someone is a wine snob. While I've learned several things during my years of wine class, one of the most valuable things I've learned is that the price of a bottle of wine does not reflect its taste.
Every bottle of wine* came from a vineyard which was grown by a family that has a story. I've had $9 bottles of wine that surpass in flavor and texture, the juice from a $45 bottle of wine. Everyone's palette is different, people like different wine with different foods. But under NO circumstance would I disrespect a winemaker by drinking wine from a WATER GLASS.
*this statement excludes bottom of the barrel juices such as any Beringer variety, along with Franzia. I will be a snob on those. However I don't drink them from water glasses, I simply don't drink them.
Oh, and those stemless wine glasses? No, those are merely glorified juice cups. The proper wine glass, with a stem, was made that way for a reason. Ever heard of Form vs. Function? When drinking a cool wine, such as a white, you hold the glass by its stem, to keep the wine cool. Drinking a warmer red? Cup the belly of the glass in your hand.
Done and done. So go ahead "Wine Cast" and drink your Almira from a water glass like a neanderthal. May the wine gods punish you in your second life.
Anyway, back to the Los Dos. What's interesting about this red, and what makes it an affordable wine, is that it's fermented in stainless steel tanks. The oak barrels is what jacks the price up on most reds. However, this wine resides in the steel in order to preserve it's fruit flavors.
Some of the other wine we tasted that night include the 2008 Legado del Conde Albarino, the 2009 Grinalda Reserva DOC, the 2008 Martinsancho Verdejo, the 2006 Casar de Burbia, the 2003 Dehesa la Granja, the 2007 Toro-Castilla y Leon by Numanthia, Graham's 20 year Twany, and Dow's 2003 Late Bottled Vintage Port.
