ENTHUSIAST OF ALL

Last April after my trip to Spain, I highlighted a Syrah that I had while dining at El Celler Can Roca in Girona. As wide a variety of quality wine as this country produces, this month I couldn’t resist mentioning a stellar example of Spain’s flagship grape, Tempranillo. I tasted this wine recently and was absolutely amazed by how complex and powerful it was for the price. Last year, the higher label wine by this producer was one of my favorites of the year, and it was great to taste this entry level production and come away equally impressed. The availability isn’t quite as widespread as usual for my Wine of the Month feature, but based on the off-the-charts quality to price ratio for this wine, I feel it merits recognition. Besides, I had to get a Tempranillo in there before the year ends!

VINAS DEL CENIT ZAMORA TRITON 2005, 92 Points, $30, 270 Cases Produced

Intense, almost sugary, raisiny black fruit aromas above hints of mineral. Very full-bodied and velvety, with deep black fruit, licorice, blueberry, plum and raisin notes above root beer, vanilla, mineral and exotic spice. Creamy and smooth as smoke and leather elements become present through the long finish, surprisingly intense all the way through. 100% Tempranillo.

This entry was posted on October 28, 2008 at 11:53 pm and is filed under Vino. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.