Wednesday Winetasting- Spanish Reds

I may have mentioned before that I am in a winetasting group. We meet on Wednesdays, the tastings are themed, and we rate the wines to see which ones were favored by the group. The bottles are bagged and everyone has a glass for each wine; there are usually 5 or 6. These types of tastings are great because they are so educational and it allows you to discuss as a group what you like and dislike in a wine.
Last Wednesdays theme was Spanish Reds and we had some really good wines to think about. We tasted 5 wines from four regions in Spain. They are listed below in the order that they were favored by the group. This week we actually had a tie for first place.

Riscal, Rottlan, Vilosell, Sierra Cantabria, & Juan Gill

#1 Vilosell, Costers Del Segre Red Wine, 2003. $13.00
This wine is another Eric Solomon Selection, whose imports I am finding on my dinner table with increasing regularity. I am not sure what varietals make up this wine and it is the first that I have had from the Segre region. The wine was very ripe with chocolate and coconut aromas. Soft tannins and a long finish made this wine a favorite for 3 of the 6 tasters.

#1 Bodegas Juan Gill, 100% Monastrell, Jumilla, 2003. $14.00
This is a great wine made from Monastrell a.k.a. Mourvedre in France. Also a very ripe wine with a bit higher alcohol. It had a thickness to it that made it linger on the palate and a floral, perfume aroma that provided complexity against the ripe cherry, strawberry characters. A string of "2nds" and no bad scores made this a favorite among the group.

#3 Marques De Riscal, 2000 Reserva, Rioja, $17.00
Marques De Riscal is a fairly famous name from Rioja. This wine was showing some age to it with some oxidative and leathery characters to go with some sweet tart and blueberry flavors. "Minty" was used to describe by more than one taster and many noted its tart acidity on the palate.

#4 Sierra Cantabria Crianza, 2001, Rioja, $17.00
This wasn't the best example of a Rioja. It had some chemical sulfur lingering around dusty characters. On the palate, a week, water finish was noted with a bitter aftertaste. Some liked its earthy, herbacious quality and likened it to Mushrooms.

#5 Rotllan Torra, Reserva 2000, Priorat, $17.00
Out of Six tasters, five gave this the lowest rating, the other gave it the second lowest rating. Notes of Peanut Butter, cigar, and smoke showed themselves in the glass at first but then opened up to more favorable characters like cherry tobacco, plum, and grape candy. I think in the end this wine didn't offend nearly as much but first impressions mean the most I guess.

I have to say that looking back at all of these wines, I wouldn't mind having a go at them again. None of them were unpleasant to drink but there has to be a top and a bottom. On their own, 4 and 5 may have been stars around some lamb or pork at the dinner table. That is what is so interesting about these tastings. You may bring your favorite wine and bag it, and rate it last among other favorites.

The winos: Adam, Ryan, Catherine, Adam, & Ana (sorry the picture is so bad guys)