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.

The Mother Load

Let's get something straight here...the Winedaddy didn't win the lottery nor did he get promoted. There was no last will and testament of a long lost uncle leaving a huge chunk of change and no, I didn't just save a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico.

But our good 'ol friends, Zachys Wine and Liquor, were having one of their Humongo, Get it while it's HOT, HOT, HOT sales and I caved. Yes. I'm ashamed to say that while I steadily fight the urge to splurge (and spend the Winefamily's hard earned money on a case of wine from a huge internet juggernaut like Zachys), they just made it to damn enticing not too.

They were offering a big sale on tons of bottles (most were from their 2nd Annual Wine Spectator Predictions List) and we were low on the sub-$20 bottles in our collection, (or as we like to call them, "everyday wines.") So I bit the bullet, pointed my pointer in their general direction and off we went.

I did some old standbys (Los Vascos and Montes Alpha), some huge cult offerings (Joel Gott Zin), and favorite varietal (Aglianico del Vulture). But I also did some research and recalled a few articles recently listing a whole bunch of South American and Spanish wines that are big bangs for the buck and since the Winefamily is desperately trying to initiate phase 2 of the Family Expansion Project, I wanted to keep costs low but taste high. And here's how.

Thanks to my friends at Zachys and the wonderful discounts they offer, all of the wines I purchased were under $20. Some were even under the $10 (God Bless you Los Vascos). My average price per bottle was around $12. It's a beautiful thing. More than half are completely sight unseen although based on some great press, I'm really excited to try them and report back on what I find.

I know you're all dying to see this latest collection of goodies so here they are. In order of appearance (L to R) this is what we'll be sampling over the next few weeks:

'01 Santa Ema Catalina Rapel Valley ($15.99)
'03 Bisceglia Aglianico del Vulture Terre di Vulcano ($12.99)
'05 Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon ($7.99 x2)
'06 Joel Gott Zinfandel ($14.99 x2)
'05 Can Blau ($17.99 x2)
'05 Catena Malbec ($18.99)
'04 Vetus ($14.99)
'05 Arrocal ($10.99)
'05 Montes Alpha ($14.99)

Now, some of these I've already reviewed and clearly like since I'm buying them again. But most of these will be new experiences and I definitely plan on giving you my 2 cents along the way. (of course, it's more like 8.375 per CENT but who's counting.

Cheers.