Wine Tasting - April 4

Name: Veleta Brut Vino Espumoso Rosado

Vintage: NV

Region: Spain

Price: $3.95

Tasting 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.

My Review: This wine smelled very floral and citrusy.  It tasted tart and it nice, light and bubbly.  However, there isn't much else to say about this wine, because there was nothing that really stood out to me – the wine wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't great either.

Name: Veleta Tempranillo Rosado

Vintage: 2010
Region: Granada, Spain

Price: $3.95

Tasting 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.

My Review: The aromas of this one included fruit and berries and I also felt like I could smell the acidity.  The taste was nice and light with some fruit and some herbs, and had a decent finish.  This wasn’t one the best rosé’s I've had.

Name: Cresta Azul

Vintage: NV
Region: Spain

Price: $5.95

Tasting Notes: Moscatel, Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel-lo. Peach, orange cream and vanilla flavors mingle in this softly bubbly white. Off-dry, but with crisp acidity and a clean finish.

My Review: This was my favorite wine of the day – I could definitely smell the orange on the nose.  And the flavors were very fruit forward with lots of peach mixed with some vanilla.  There was just the right amount of sweetness in this wine for me.

Name: Chateau Serres Sainte Lucie Corbieres

Vintage: 2010
Region: Corbieres, France

Price: $4.95

Tasting Notes: Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre. 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.

My Review: This wine had the weirdest smell I had ever experienced in a red wine! And unfortunately the taste matched the smell – I couldn't quite pick out the exact taste, but I think it was very close to the taste of soap, and I did not like it.  It also had some spice and vanilla aspects to it.

Name: Ruta 22 Malbec

Vintage: 2011

Region: Patagonia, Argentina

Price: $7.95

Tasting 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.

My Review: The smell of this wine was mainly fruit and berries, but nothing too exciting.  The taste wasn't bad but nothing really jumped out at me, but it definitely had a different taste to it.