Tag Archives: garnacha

Mar 26 2013
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2009, Cariñena, Spain

2009 Picos del Montgó Old Vines Garnacha Cariñena DO

2009 Picos del Montgó Old Vines Garnacha

2009 Picos del Montgó Old Vines Garnacha

Last night was one of those nights: We were catching up on The Americans (a great TV show, by the way) and I was vaguely craving a glass of wine. So I checked our box that says “cheaper reds” my eyes landed on this bottle, a 2009 Picos del Montgó Old Vines Garnacha from the Cariñena region in Spain. I had picked it up a while back, probably a year ago, at World Market (so tells me Cellar Tracker) for $8 at the World Market.

The website is not very helpful, it is one of those typical wines made in large numbers for the export markets. It seems like these wines are made by an importer called Vinnico, at least that is what the back label states. I turned to other blogs and it turned out that there are a number of reviews of this wine, but they also don’t really provide much in information about it. The Cariñena region of Spain is located in Aragon, in the North Eastern heart of Spain. It is one of the oldest protected wine growing areas in Europe, apparently having been awarded DO status in 1932 (thank you Wikipedia for that!).

With not much more to give you in background, let’s get to the wine. It has a listed 13.5% ABV. In the glass, a rather dark ruby red wine presented itself, no visible signs of ageing yet. In the nose, I got red berries, some almond and hints of tobacco. It was a riper, more aged wine. On the palate, this wine was medium-bodied, with low and nicely integrated tannins. Definitely on the sweeter side, with some wood and spice and tobacco, plums, vanilla and receding red berries, especially cassis. It was very reminiscent of a Port to me. Don’t get me wrong, it was no Port, but it was so ripe, and tad too sweet, and it showed some age on the palate. The finish was of medium length.

Absolutely nothing objectionable about this wine. Nothing special or earth shattering, but for $8 it was a decent weekday wine. I was actually surprised how much I liked it. Definitely a wine for a fall or winter evening, though. I would probably buy it again, although I assume this vintage will not get better from here on out.

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Dec 10 2012
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2009, Spain

2009 Armantes Calatayud Old Vines Garnacha Tempranillo

2009 Armantes Old Vine Calatayud DO

2009 Armantes Old Vine Calatayud DO

Last Friday, it was almost weekend and I realized I didn’t have a single glass of wine all week. Frustrating. While a casserole was simmering in the oven I decided to open up this wine that we picked up at Plum Market a while back for $8 (marked down from $12).

The wine is produced by San Gregorio Sociedad Cooperativa Limitada, a cooperative in the Calatayud region of Spain. I had to check where that is because I am not very familiar with Spanish geography or wines. According to Wikipedia Calatayud is a city and and municipality located in the western part of the province Aragon, pretty much in the heart of the Iberian peninsula. Calatayud has its own denomination of origin (DO), see here. Unfortunately the website is only available in Spanish, and my Spanish is virtually non-existent. It seems like the area boasts 60 vintners and some cooperatives. In 2009, it produced 5.72 million bottles of wine and is supposed to be a “muy buena” year.

The winery’s website can be found here. The website states that DO Calatayud was established in 1989. The team at the winery is said to have an average age of 34 (exciting!) and is producing for the international market, whatever that means. It looks like this wine is their basic wine (it better be at that price), although they changed things up a bit from the website. This wine has, according to the bottle, 90% Garnacha and 10% Tempranillo and 14.5% ABV.

Armantes poured in a dark, ruby red. The nose is initially a bit sour and alcoholic. After 15 minutes in the glass that is reduced. Then it smells fresh, earthy, a bit of red fruit. On the palate it shows some smokiness, medium tannins and a nice touch of acidity. It’s light to medium bodied, feels silky at times and is actually enjoyable in the middle. The short finish, however, is rather harsh with bitter and unripe notes which are even too long for this short of a finish.

Not sure what to make of this. The finish definitely ruined the wine for me, although the initial stages of tasting were alright. Nothing special, definitely not fun. Not something I will likely pick up again.

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