Today's first two wines are some old favorites - Marques de Caceres 2005 Crianza from Rioja Spain and Marques de Casa Concha 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. We first became acquainted with Spanish reds back in 1997 when we sampled Vina Mayor back in the cellar at Deluca's Market on Newbury St. in Boston, Ma. They had regular tastings with wine, cheese, and the occasional Berkelee student playing music.
Spanish wines, especially the aged ones like a Crianza have many of the characteristics in reds that we like. Nice oaky, wood flavor that comes from the aging. Crianza means that it has spent at least one year in oak barrels and it tends to spend a year in the bottle for a total of two years. The wine is primarily made from the Tempranillo grape grown in the Rioja region of Spain. It can be blended with small amounts of Graciano, Mazuela and Grancha. It's somewhat similar to Chianti - where Sangiovese is the main grape with other blends. It has a distinctive, dusty, leathery taste but a very smooth finish - not heavy on the tannins. When we mention tannins think "licking a stick". I like to say there is a certain "Spanish Tannin" although innaccurate, it reflects the combination of grapes and soil known by the French as "terroir". This fell under the "we buy a few bottles" because it does go great with food. This wine retails for about $13.
Marques de Casa Concha 2007 Cabernet Sauvigon is one of Concha y Toro's middle level wines that are great values. It has good coffee and vanilla aromas from the oak aging. Additionally, we find that Chilean reds have good amounts of cherry aromas, leather and tobacco flavors. This is not as heavy on the tobacco as some, but definitely distinctive. This is a pretty powerful wine so you should be thinking steaks or other hearty red meats. Chocolate is an interesting pairing too. Cabernet Sauvignon is grown all over the world and this is a great example of one from South America. It retails for $15 - 17 and falls under the we like to buy a few bottles at a time. If you see a great pricing deal then we go for more.
As the weekend draws near, we'll be sampling many wines and should have more for you by Monday.
Like what you drink, drink what you like!
Rachel and Bryan Gavini
Marques de Casa Concha update! Not that we put a huge amount of stock in these things, but Wine Spectator rates this wine as 91 points. This just goes to show you can get some great values without having to pay a lot.
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