Dinner - Homemade (Spain)

Kayce and I sitting down to eat, feast before us.

On Wednesday my girlfriend Kayce (who's also in this class, here's her blog if you want to see her report on the dinner http://sniffandswirl.blogspot.com/, I am borrowing some pictures from her since she had her nice camera) and I decided to make a food and wine pairing with Spanish foods and wines. Last summer I went on a study abroad trip to Spain. It was an amazing experience. I was a part of the Camino de Santiago trip where we hiked a part of the ancient Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail that starts in France and ends in Santiago de Compostela in Western Spain. Along with hiking about 200 miles, we got to stay a week in Madrid and a week in Santiago. This trip was one of my most favorite experiences of my life so far, and a big part of that was the food.

First off, I'd like to tell you that the Spanish love, and I mean love, their pork, especially in Madrid. There was so much bacon, serrano ham, chorizo, pork chops, and whatever else you can make from a pig everywhere. I chose some of the dishes that I enjoyed the most there. The first was a simple combination of bread, chorizo (Spanish sausage, most often found dried like salami) and manchego cheese.

Dried Chorizo sausage and Machego cheese

The second was my favorite tapa that we had at a restaurant in Madrid that was Spanish meatballs on top of brie and a piece of baguette. I know that one sounds like mostly French stuff, and it is, but it was a very popular tapa served in many different restaurants in Madrid, and extremely delicious. The meatballs also use a gravy, which I made with chicken stock, olive oil, flour, onions and garlic.
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/spanish-meatballs.html - Spanish Meatballs recipe

Forming the meatballs!

Meatballs cooking in the pan.

The last dish I made was a Tortilla Espanola, which basically is a big omelette with potato and onion. This was a signature dish in Spain and was served in a ton of different ways; for breakfast on its own, as a tapa, or even as the main ingredient on a sandwich (my personal favorite).

http://spanishfood.about.com/od/tapas/ss/tortilla.htm - Torilla Espanola recipe and direction

Tortilla Espanola (after I had just flipped it!)

The olive oil I used was actually also from Spain. After I got back, I was out with my mom walking around downtown Frederick, MD (near where I live) and we noticed a new specialty shop. It was a store that sold exclusively oils, vinegars, and some other sauces. We went in and got some free samples (taking shots of olive oil and vinegar was quite interesting), and I ended up buying a bottle of Spanish Castille style olive oil, which was perfect for making these dishes. 

http://www.loveoliveoilvinegar.com/ - link to the oil shop in Frederick

Castille Style Spanish Olive Oil

The wines we chose were a verdejo, a garnacha (grenache), and a cava (sparkling white), all from Spain. We poured a glass of each and tried each dish and explored how each one effected each wine. Some pairings were better than others, but they all had significant effects on the wines.

Table all set with wine and food, Chorizo on left, Meatballs in blue bowl, and tortilla to right of meatballs.

The following is my notes on how each dish affected the wines we paired them with. As I stated before, we tried each wine one glass at time and tried with each food before moving on to the next wine, so that is the order the notes are in.

Bornos Verdejo

Alone: Smelled like apples and a little bit like grapefruit and other citrus fruits. Very tart smelling. Very light body. It was crisp but not overly tart on the tongue. The acid was very pleasant which added a nice component, not just making it a boring light white wine.

With Chorizo, Manchego and Bread: The acid and sweetness were definitely enhanced after eating the first tapa. I also got a new taste, pear, that came out after eating this dish. It changed the apple flavor into something a little different. A pretty good pairing.

With Meatballs, Brie, and Bread: I didn't really enjoy this pairing. It might have been the rind on the brie that I thought didn't react well with the Verdejo. Almost all the sweetness was gone and the acid was greatly enhanced. The meatball was a little overpowering and not a great match for the lightness of the wine.

With Tortilla Espanola: Almost completely neutralized the acidity (maybe the proteins in the egg had something to do with this), mostly just the sweet flavors of the wine came through, the fruit flavors were slightly enhanced. I thought it tasted a little smoky after eating this dish. Maybe it was the onions.

Tres Ojos Garnacha

Alone: This wine smelled delicious. It was fruity yet not overly sweet smelling. It was acidic and dry, yet also a little sweet and fruity. Very full bodied, this was one of my favorites in the lineup. Did detect a little bit of spicy to it It reminded me a lot of many of the dozens of bottles of wine I had while hiking through Spain last summer.

With Chorizo, Manchego and Bread: Alcohol was really enhanced, it was a lot more hot drinking after eating the chorizo and manchego cheese. Brought out the fruit flavors a bit more, but only right up front. The wine fished a little more blandly after eating this tapa.

With Meatballs, Brie, and Bread: The meatballs and gravy made the garnacha taste a lot more earthy and complex. The brie worked really well with this big red, as well as the meat flavors. This was probably my favorite pairing of the dinner. This tapa made the garnacga taste a lot more Old World.

With Tortilla Espanola: This dish made the wine taste very yeasty and bready. It was a very interesting pairing, but I kind of liked it. It also took away most of the fruit flavors and just left the body and acid.

Don Conde Cava (Brut)

Alone: Super bubbly, tingled the nostrils just to smell it (would have been even more nose tingling if we had been using champagne flutes). It was dry, but still retained some sweetness, mostly in flavor really than sugar levels. I picked up apple and a tiny bit of citrus, but also some vanilla, and I am fairly certain it was not an oaked wine, but got that hint of vanilla.

With Chorizo, Manchego and Bread: The first tapa made the cava a little bit sweeter, the salty dried chorizo probably helped bring out any sweetness left in the wine. I also picked up a little bit of spice, like cinnamon and nutmeg after trying with the chorizo and cheese.

With Meatballs, Brie, and Bread: This was a terrible pairing, worst of the night. It might have been the gravy that didn't match up, or just the meatballs in general, but this was straight up terrible. The cava became very bitter and acidic, and there was no sweetness or anything coming through anymore. Don't recommend this.

With Tortilla Espanola: This was an interesting pairing. Oddly enough, after eating some tortilla, I got hints of bacon in the after taste of the wine. The bodies of the wine and tapa matched up nicely, both were light and fluffy, the bubbles were almost enhanced. I enjoyed this pairing.

Sink full of dishes after cooking.

Tasting - Reserve Grand Veneur Côtes du Rhône

Name: Alain Jaume & Fils Reserve Grand Veneur

Variety: Blend (Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault)

Region: Rhone Valley

Country: France

Year: 2010

Price: $14.95/ 750mL or $38.95/ 3L

Shop's Notes: As for their other values, the 2010 Grand Veneur Cotes du Rhone Reserve (70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Cinsault) displays loads of ripe flavors. It is very concentrated for a Cotes du Rhone, and is actually an amazing wine. Classic garrigue, black cherry liqueur, lavender, licorice and spice box are all present in this fullbodied, intense, and rich Cotes du Rhone. This is a sensational effort to drink over the next 4-5 years, although it might last even longer.

This wine was delicious, and pretty complex. It was almost a little smoky and meaty on the nose, with some dark berries coming through. I got a lot of cherries and plum, dark fruit. I also got some herbs in it, like oregano and others. Would be really interesting to try this one with food.

Tasting - Lobetia Tempranillo

Name: Lobetia

Variety: Tempranillo

Region: La Mancha

Country: Spain

Year: 2011

Price: $9.95

Shop's Notes: Organically and naturally grown and made, this wine allows the varietal and the terroir to stand out cleanly. It shows a nice cherry color with a violet shade because of its youth. Red berries and cherries on the nose. On the palate it is fresh, slightly astringent, and harmonious with a long finish.

I got a lot of raspberry and cherry coming through. Also a bit flowery, like maybe cherry blossom flowers with some raspberry juice sprayed on it. It was very smooth, not very hot like some of the tempranillos I have had. I have found I can be very hit or miss with the tempranillo variety, but I really enjoyed this one.

Tasting - Lobetia Chardonnay

Name: Lobetia

Variety: Chardonnay

Region: La Mancha

Country: Spain

Year: 2011

Price: $9.95

Shop's Notes: Organically and naturally grown and made, this wine allows the varietal and the terroir to stand out cleanly. Clean, bright color with a greenish-yellow tone. On the nose, exotic fruits like pineapple. Full flavored, fresh, with good acidity in the mouth, it finishes with tropical fruits.

I got a little bit of cat pee coming through on the nose, not very strong but just a hint. It was citrusy on the nose, and maybe like a sour plum component. It also had some of that unripe plum taste on the palate. It was very fruity and tart. Great summer chilled wine.

Tasting - Trattoria Busa Alla Torre Da Lele Pinot Grigio

Name: Trattoria Busa Alla Torre Da Lele

Variety: Pinot Grigio

Region: Veneto

Country: Italy

Year: No Vintage

Price: $7.95

Shop's notes: Named after the famous restaurant in Italy! This is their house white wine! Coppery color from extended skin contact, round and rich texture with juicy melon aromas and flavors with a sweet fennel note on the ultra smooth finish. Great value Grigio! Drink now.

This was a tasty Pinot Grigio. It smelled slightly tropical, I got some banana and strawberry coming through on the nose and palate. It was nice and light bodied, very balanced, light but very flavorful. Smelled very sweet. This was one of the better Pinot Grigios I have had.

Winery Visit - Chateau Morrisette

Sign near walkway into winery, not a lot of greenery yet even though it was technically spring.

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend Kayce (who is also in this class) and I went to visit Chateau Morrisette in Floyd, VA. It was an extremely beautiful drive to get there, all backroads mostly, through the town of Floyd, which I need to go back to some day, and then a short stint along the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is actually the road that the winery is off of. The location is absolutely amazing, surrounded by big rolling mountains and lots of forests and wildlife. They have a restaurant on location, as well as a band stand for summer concerts and plenty of space to sit and walk around outside.

We arrived near the end of the day, just about an hour before the last tour was set to leave, so there were not a lot of people there. We purchased a tasting to kill some time, and for about $8 we were supposed to only get 10 wines to taste, but our pourer was extremely nice and friendly and ended up letting us try nearly all of them, maybe about 16 different wines. You also get to keep your wine glass as well, so that was $8 well spent. My favorite wine was their Cabernet Sauvignon.

Me at the tasting bar. Note the dog prints on the ground

After tasting we went on the tour, and for the first half of it or so it was just the two of us taking the tour. Our pourer was also our tourguide, so we were already good friends at this point and that made the tour a lot of fun. She began by giving a little history of the winery. Apparently William Morrisette planted his first vines in 1978 just to pursue his hobby of making wine. As he got more serious about making wine, his son David who had studied viticulture came back to work with his parents at the winery, becoming the first wine maker. They eventually expanded as production grew, and Mrs Morrisette decided to build a restaurant so that visitors would have a place to eat.

The building was a work of art in itself. Most of the big beams used in the structure, both in the front tasting room and store area and the warehouse where the magic is made, are reclaimed timbers that had been dredged up from the St Marie river, I believe she said from an old sunken ship. The wood was beautifully restored and added an architecturally fascinating aspect to the place.

Beautiful reclaimed wood beams. In my opinion, if you look at it upside down it looks like the frame of big wooden ship.

Next we went into the warehouse where the production happened. Right up front were the oak barrels aging their wines. Our guide said they used French and Hungarian oak barrels. I had never heard of Hungarian oak before this. Next to those were rows of stainless steel vats used for fermentation. These vats are refrigerated so they can control the temperature of the wine during fermentation, which allows they to basically control the speed and keep it from getting out of hand.

Stainless steel vats. The whites ones are white because they are covered in frost from refrigeration. 

The bottling area is in the back of the warehouse. After this the tour was over but we walked around a little bit more before leaving. We saw the press outside on the porch (which had more awesome views to see). On the tour she told us that they grow some grapes on site, but get a majority of their grapes from other vineyards around Virginia.

Bottling operation.

Grape press on the porch outside the warehouse.

After touring we were pretty hungry so we decided to get dinner at the restaurant there. The building was also very pretty, rustic looking, with a lot of wood and stone showing. The food was delicious. I had the cinnamon chili rubbed pork medallions, which was quite tasty.

Restaurant at Chateau Morrisette.

I definitely recommend anyone taking this class and everyone who lives within a reasonable distance to take the time to visit Chateau Morrisette. It has a breathtaking location (just driving there is a stress reliever) and great friendly staff and great wines. I would love to go in the summer during one of the festivals they hold there, and see the place in full winery swing.

My tasting notes for the Cabernet Sauvignon I purchased:

Smelled like cherry and raspberry jams. A little spice came through on the nose as well. Very nice body, well balanced fruit and tannins. Some light spice and dark fruit components, and a smooth buttery finish. Very delicious.

Cabernet Sauvignon from Chateau Morrisette

Name: Concannon

Variety: Shiraz

Region: Central Coast, CA

Country: USA

Year: 2008

Price: $7.95

Vintage Cellar's notes: This is an extremely rich, full-bodied wine with a dark fruit core. Aromas of blackberry, blueberry, cassis and dark cherry are followed by more berry fruits and chocolate and mocha on the palate.

This wine was probably my favorite of the bunch, also very dark like the Ksana. The nose was complex, a little earthy and definitely smelled like chocolate covered dried cherries. It tasted like eating a chocolate cherry while smelling some fresh dug dirt. Didn't taste very earthy, just had hints of it. Decently complex and dark.

Tasting - Ksana Bonarda

Name: Ksana

Variety: Bonarda (Charbono)

Region: Mendoza

Country: Argentina

Year: 2008

Price: $9.95

Vintage Cellar's notes: The bouquet is floral and lightly jammy, with berry aromas and a savory note or two. To the uninitiated, this is a great introduction to Bonarda. Finishes solid. Very sweet, berry smell with some rooty undertones. Kind of dry, makes your lips pucker.

This was a very dark wine, and the color was the first thing I noted. I smelled dark jammy fruits, like blackberries and currants.  These carried through in the taste, a little earthy and dark, like beets and currants mixed together. Also some black cherry. Kind of a rough finish in my opinion, could be helped by decanting.

Tasting - Black Ridge White Zinfandel

Name: Black Ridge Vineyards

Variety: White Zinfandel

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: No Vintage

Price: $3.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: This fruit forward White Zinfandel displays fresh aromas and crisp flavors of strawberry, raspberry, and cherry. It is incredibly food friendly and will pair well with burgers, sandwiches, fruit salad, and more.

This white zin was very sweet smelling (as white zins usually are). It was very floral smelling, very fresh, like honeysuckles. It was slightly bubbly, enough to just start to feel it after a few seconds. It had a lot of sweet fruit flavors in it. It was a fairly enjoyable wine, but white zins do not excite me very much.

Tasting - Chandon Sweet Cuvee

Name: Chandon

Variety: Cuvee (blended wine)

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: No Vintage

Price: $9.95

Vintage Cellar's notes: This wine is an innovative sparkling wine style revealing vibrant stone fruit and floral aromas with rich, luscious mouthfeel. This wine enlivens the senses and sparks spontaneous moments, complementing your passion for a good life.

This wine smelled slightly toasted, with a little vanilla, strawberry, and cherry on the nose. Was nice and light and lively on the palate. Not overly sweet, very fruity and balanced.  This would be a great wine served on a hot day in the summer, with some not too strong cheese and crackers.

Tasting - Wilson Daniels Sauvignon Blanc

Name: Wilson Daniels

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Region: Central Coast, CA

Country: USA

Year: 2010

Price: $7.95

Vintage Cellar's notes: Orange blossom and citrus permeate the aromas. Alluring flavors of orange and grapefruit dominate the palate. Bright acidity balances the plush mouthfeel, resulting in a clean finish.

This sauvignon blanc was very crisp right off the bat. Very citrusy smelling, also got notes of other fruits like strawberry. Tasted very acidic and tart, definitely citrus flavors coming through. Would be a great antipasti wine, maybe go with a salad.

Winery Visit - Black Ankle Winery

On March 2nd, a little over a month ago, my girlfriend, her dad, my mom and I together went on a tour of the Black Ankle Winery in Mt. Airy, Maryland. It was off the beaten path (as wineries seem to usually be) in the hills of Western Maryland, only about 35 minutes from my house.

My girlfriend Kayce, her dad, my mom, and I at the Black Ankle Winery in Mt. Airy, MD

While it was March, it was a very chilly day, probably about 35 degrees and breezy. Black Ankle is a pretty new winery, bought in 2002 and planted their first grapes in 2003. The land used, was an old 146 acre farm that was being sold at the time because the soil just wasn't quite fertile enough for crops and it didn't enough rain as well. This happened to be just the kind of conditions the wine-makers were looking for at the time because, as the tour guide explained, the more that grape vines have to struggle, they will generally produce sweeter grapes and make better wine.

Black Ankle makes all 100% estate wines, meaning that all the wine produced comes solely from the grapes they grow on property. They do not buy grapes from any other grape growers. They use a unique planting method as well, planting the vines 3 feet apart from each other, and only 6 feet between rows.  Most vineyards usually plant their vines 6 feet apart, and 10 feet between rows.

Close vines, no grapes as its the end of winter still.

Because of the great growing conditions here (rocky soil, plentiful sunshine because of the topography, etc), they are able to get their grapes to have up to 25-26% sugars, which is extremely high for the east coast. Before this visit, I went to another winery nearby and talked to the winemaker who said he would be happy if his grapes got up to 20-21% sugar.

Our tour guide is the guy on the right facing the camera. Building in the back is part of the old barn from the farm.

They hand pick all their grapes in the fall , and press the grapes outside with their fairly new press (the press has wheels on it, but it always kept outside).

Mostly stainless steel press.

Barreling room with press out front.

After discussing the press (and how they will sometimes feed the skins to the cows they have), we went into the barreling room, the blue building in the picture above. The winemakers are very environmentally conscious and built the barreling room with mostly natural materials. The insulation inside is straw and mud, which keeps the building cool in the summer and warm(ish) in the winter. They use stainless steel fermentation tanks from South Africa for the majority of fermenting and aging.

Stainless steel fermentation tanks.

They age their wine in only French oak, as American oak is too overwhelming for their preferences. They use medium to medium-plus toasted barrels to impart the desired levels of smokiness and other flavors that the oak donates.

Me next to their French oak barrels currently full of wine. Yes it was still pretty cold in there.

After the tour we went into their tasting room to give their wines a whirl. The tasting notes are below. We ordered some delicious cheeses and bread to go with our great wines. I enjoyed every wine I tried there, and was pleasantly surprised by our little Maryland winery, which has actually won a few awards in the past couple years including:
-2011 Maryland Governor's Cup for Slate
-2009 Maryland Governor's Cup for 2007 Crumbling Rock
-Best Syrah in the 2009 Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition for 2007 Leaf-Stone Syrah
-2008 Maryland Governor's Cup for 2006 Crumbling Rock

The winery looked like an awesome place to hang out in the summer, with lots of outdoor seating, and one of the walls of the tasting room was actually a giant garage door that could open up, allowing easy access to the bar if sitting outside. I definitely recommend anyone travelling through Maryland to stop at the Black Ankle Winery and try some of their exceptional wines.

Front side of tasting notes

Back side of tasting notes

The bottle of Viognier I bought before leaving Black Ankle

Tasting - Caprice de Bastor-Lamontagne

Name: Caprice de Bastor-Lamontagne

Variety: 60% Semillon, 36% Sauvignon Blanc, 4% Muscadelle

Region: Sauternes

Country: France

Year: 2004

Price: $7.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: Very clean, with lemon, mineral and honey aromas that follow through to a medium body. Shows vanilla, apple and melon flavors, with a medium finish. Lightly sweet.

At first I wasn't sure I was going to like this, because I noticed that it is a 9 year old white wine, and generally, not always though, white wines might not always age that well. It was very sweet smelling. Tropical fruit notes came through, like pineapple and guava with some honey. Those tropical fruit were present in the taste as well, really got some guava, some banana as well. Also, I got hints of overly ripe apricots. The honey and vanilla did come through a lot more than I expected as well. This wine would be a good dessert wine, as it was pretty sweet and very fruity.

Tasting - Torre Castillo Alegre

Name: Torre Castillo

Variety: Monastrell (Mourvedre)

Region: Jumilla

Country: Spain

Year: 2010

Price: $9.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: 4 months in new American oak barrels
Bright ruby-red. Dried cherry, pipe tobacco and rose aromas, with a hint of woodsmoke. Sweet and fleshy on the palate, with
blackberry and cherry flavors complimented by licorice and a
suggestion of dried herbs. The cherry and smoke notes repeat on
the finish.

This was another decently complex wine that I enjoyed. It smelled, oddly enough, like cooking meat, like maybe ground turkey, some kind of lean meat. It was a bit smoky and just by smelling I could tell this wine had probably been aged in oak at some point. Not a lot of fruit flavors in this one, a little bit of dried fruit flavors though, like cherry fruit leather. This was a little too much oak for me, especially because I felt it wasn't balanced well enough with other flavors to make the oak tastes appealing.

Tasting - Wilson Daniels Merlot

Name: Wilson Daniels

Variety: Merlot

Region: Central Coast California

Country: USA

Year: 2010

Price: $7.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: Made predominantly from Paso Robles grapes, the wine is full bodied and silky yet robust, with aromas of black cherry and plum and a palate of blackberry, raspberry and blueberry jam laced with vanilla and toast.

This wine was very interesting, and I enjoyed tasting it as it was pretty complex for an 8 dollar wine. It scent was smoky, like smoked or roasted peppers, and there was some spiciness coming through. It had some nice acidity, not overwhelming, but paired with the smokiness it was a good balance. I had some fruit flavors in it, dark ones like cherry or blackberry. I also got bell pepper and maybe a little bit of jalapeno flavor, but just the flavor and not the spiciness of it. Very good wine.

Tasting - Bricco dei Tati Rosè

Name: Bricco Dei Tati

Variety: Barbera

Region: Lange (Piedmont)

Country: Italy

Year: 2012

Price: $6.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes:  Fresh with aromas of strawberries, cherries, and rose petals, this an ideal wine with shellfish, salads, chicken, and appetizers

This rosè smelled very good. It was very sweet right up front.  I got some floral notes, as well as fruit scents like banana and strawberry. It did taste a little bit like strawberry banana to me also, like a strawberry-banana candy. It was quite dry yet surprisingly smooth still. I thoroughly enjoyed this wine.

Tasting - Smoking Loon Sauvignon Blanc

Name: Smoking Loon

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2009

Price: $7.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: This bleached blonde beauty is reminiscent of fresh green apples, pineapple and has hints of hibiscus blossoms. The concentration of zesty lemon and gooseberry fills your mouth leaving notes of thyme and melon behind. The bright acid in this wine gives you a zing while the fruit keeps your mouth watering for more. This wine pairs beautifully with a grilled prawn salad with a grapefruit
vinaigrette, veggie spring rolls or grilled tilapia with mango salsa.

I detected hints of petroleum in the smell of this wine. It smelled citrusy and acidic as well. Tasted a lot better than I thought it would after smelling it. A little bit of rotten fruit taste came through, it was quite acidic. It tasted fruity, especially like citrus. It was a good refreshing white, even though normally I am not a fan of Sauvignon Blancs.

Tasting - Ruta 22 Malbec

Name: Ruta 22

Variety: Malbec

Region: Patagonia

Country: Argentina

Year: 2011

Price: $7.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: Stout and dense from the beginning, with blackberry and violet aromas. Despite being a bold and dark Malbec, this is fresh and composed, with sweet blackberry and cassis flavors. Good on the finish, with candied fruit and caramel sweetness.

Very strong nose on this wine, another good malbec out of Argentina. Fruity and juicy smelling. Tasted a lot like dark berries, like blueberries, blackberries, dark cherries and such. Tasted a bit acidic, but still very balanced with fruit flavors. Would be a good wine to try with pasta and a meat sauce, or maybe red meats.

Tasting - Château Serres Sainte Lucie Corbières

Name: Château Serres Sainte Lucie Corbières

Variety: Blend (Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre)

Region: Corbieres

Country: France

Year: 2010

Price: $4.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: Superb dark garnet color with a few reflections of dark orange. Intense nose of ripe fruits, spices, and roasted coffee. The palate is rounded and full, with silky matured tannins and hints of vanilla. This wine is rich and powerful with layers of tannins.

This wine was one of the most extreme example of "old world" style I have tried so far. Extremely earthy smells, like being in a barnyard, where you can smell the hay, manure, and just overall dirt and animal smells. The taste was similar as well, like chewing on a piece of hay while biting into a dark not very sweet grape. A little spicy and vegetal. Not an immediate fan of it, but I could see these types of earthy wines becoming more intriguing.

Tasting - Cresta Azul

Name: Cresta Azul

Variety: Blend (Moscatel, Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel-lo)

Region: Emporda

Country: Spain

Year: Vintage not available

Price: $5.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: Peach, orange cream and vanilla flavors mingle in this softly bubbly white. Off-dry, but with crisp acidity and a clean finish.

This was the most intriguing wine to me this week. The smell was great, sweet and creamy. After first taste I got hints of bananas, maybe like a banana cream pie. It was slightly effervescent, which made it really interesting to swish around in your mouth to get the flavors and the little bit of bubbles to work together. It didn't say so, but I would get this wine was oaked at some point in its aging, because of the banana and cream tones I got from it.

Tasting - Veleta Tempranillo

Name: Veleta

Variety: Tempranillo rosé

Region: Granada (Andalucia)

Country: Spain

Year: 2010

Price: $3.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: Fresh in flavor and crisp in texture, this dry rosé offers berry, tart cherry and light herbal flavors, with firm acidity and a clean finish. Focused and juicy.

First tempranillo rosé I've tried before. Thought it didn't have much on the nose, a light sweet fruity smell came through though. This wine tasted great though, well balanced, not too light and not too bland, it was decently full bodied and still not that heavy. Got citrus tastes, along with maybe blackberry as well. Very dry, yet had enough flavor to counteract the acidity.

Tasting - Veleta Sparkling Rosé

Name: Veleta

Variety: Sparkling Rosé

Region: Andalucia

Country: Spain

Year: No vintage available

Price: $3.95

Vintage Cellar's Notes: Rosé salmon with copper reflections. Slow rising fine bubble that forms “lace” and “rosary”. In the nose is complex and elegant with red fruit, citric, exotic, fresh flowers, and notes of dry fruits and dry flowers. Fresh, gentle, and alive. Perfectly integrated “perlage” with serious and subtle flavors of dry fruits, pomegranate and lemonade. Long lasting scent of flowers and herbs.

This one smelled like grass to me, not like fresh cut but more like a few day old grass clippings. It was light, nice and bubbly and a little earthy tasting, very dry. A lot different than a champagne, this was a lot more complex for a sparkling wine. This was an enjoyable bubbly, not too boring, and dry while being full of flavor.

Tasting - Emeri Sparkling Shiraz

Name: Emeri de Bortoli

Variety: Sparkling Shiraz

Region: South East Australia

Country: Australia

Year: N/A

Price: $9.95

Vintage Cellar's notes: A relatively light fresh style of sparkling Shiraz, with berries and hints of chocolate picking up just a touch of sweet vanilla on the finish.

This was an interesting wine. I had never had a sparkling red wine before this one. It was like a more full bodied champagne. It was pleasantly crisp, and not overly sweet. Tasted very fruity, like maybe cherries and strawberries. Also tasted flowery, and light. It made me think of sweet red grape juice cut with a little bit of sprite. Quite an enjoyable wine.

Tasting - Tres Ojos Garnacha

Name: Tres Ojos

Variety: Grenache

Region: Calatayud

Country: Spain

Year: 2011

Price: $6.95

Vintage Cellar notes: This wine has a brick red color with a bouquet of red raspberries, spice, and white pepper. The palate is incredibly concentrated and rich. The modern styles of Garnacha in Spain are continuously being perceived worldwide as wines of extraordinarily good quality. This wine is fruity, juicy, and shows great depth, ripe tannins, length, but yet with wonderful elegance and lightness. Enjoy with sausages, roasted meats, aged cheeses, etc.

This wine smelled delicious. It was fruity yet not overly sweet smelling. It was acidic and dry, yet also a little sweet and fruity. Very full bodied, this was one of my favorites in the lineup. Did detect a little bit of spicy to it It reminded me a lot of many of the dozens of bottles of wine I had while hiking through Spain last summer. I had to buy a bottle of this. I imagine this would be a great wine to cook with as well.