Hola Vino! (ole!)

In a moment of weakness, the Winedaddy fell victim to that ever popular wave of hype and decided to buy into some of the South American hoopla, literally. As I previously posted, I bought a ton of wine from Zachys recently and decided to take a stab at some of the big, meaty, juicy, reds from our southern neighbors that I have been reading so much about. Much to my surprise, Spain is not actually a South American country. It actually sits squarely on the edge of the European continent and though they DO speak Spanish there, like they do in South America, I was surprised to find out that it is not technically considered a South American wine. So how did this one particular Spanish blend end up in my case? Oh, right. I'm really beginning to love Spanish wine these days and couldn't resist throwing a few bottles into the mix.

I give you now, a brief and very unscientific comparison of two wines, both from Spanish speaking countries, yet very different in style. Go figure.

Catena Malbec: Mendoza 2005 ($17.99)

This wine has had a good deal of praise lately. It's been sited on various "Top Lists" of 2006 and at this price point, I understand why. I brought this wine to a get together recently and was pleasantly surprised to see that our hosts had already opened a bottle of wine before we arrived. The best part is that they too were serving a Malbec from South America so I was excited to compare the two. Unfortunately, in my excitement to watch the Winedaughter run around in her tutu and "Fairies Rock" t-shirt, I neglected to jot down the name of the wine we drank first.

In any event, I took a few notes on the Catena and can tell you that this wine is extremely accessible. At first whiff though, there is an underlying hint of steak and grilled meat. Seriously...it's a little beefy. Upon further investigation (i.e. "first sip"), this wine opens up a good deal and shows very nice ripe fruits with not a ton of that fake oak-like thing that many of the more "economical" wines from South America seem to do. I will definitely buy more of this at some point.

Cellar Can Blau Montant 2005 ($15.99)

Much like the Catena Malbec, much had been written about this wine so I couldn't resist (besides, it has a killer label, complete with hologramesque diamonds). El Parker gave this particular Spanish blend 90 points and for a wine under $20, I bought 2 bottles sight unseen. (I know, I'm a sucker for points). From what I gathered, it's a blend of Southern Rohne grapes, namely, Carignan, Syrah, and Grenache. There is a tiny bit of the traditional French Syrah characteristics showing through on this wine. It is a very tight wine with a little black olive and mineral characteristics that you get from the traditional French Syrahs. The other varietals, however, round this wine out and give it a really nice structure and a bit of spice that really helps make this quite complex. I wasn't knocked over by this wine but will definitely wait a year or so before opening the other bottle to see if some time brings out anything new.

All in all, it was a good week for the Spanish speaking wines. No if you'll excuse me, there are some grilled meats and tapas that need my help.