There’s something so human about deadlines. It’s a necessity to have a completion be that a graduation, a wedding, a birth or eventually…death. But since those aren’t enough we must apply the concept to everything tormenting our every day in order to get stuff done because otherwise, I’ll be honest, if I don’t give myself some milestones and deadlines I tend not to do things. So recently we completed a deadline at work that had me on the edge for a almost three months. So to celebrate our completion, we took the team to lunch and we opened a bottle of wine. I was asked to choose so I went with something I knew everyone would love.
Pago de Carraovejas Crianza 2014 from Ribera del Duero. I’ve never met anyone that doesn’t like this wine. Even critics like it. This year alone it got 93 from Robert Parker and 92 from Wine Spectator. Probably because it’s not 100% Tempranillo and it’s fruit forward when young and full of nuisance when older. This particular vintage has some Cabernet Sauvignon and some Merlot in it. What I personally love about Carraovejas is how it can be so fruity yet on the nose it has all these smokey aromas, sometimes even meaty and the fruits well, more like morello cherries than any other type of berries. Another thing about Carraovejas is that it’s a 15% of alcohol wine but the balance is so well crafted you don’t notice that easily. They opened two bottles of the same wine (not a practice I tend to follow but who can argue with the majority vote).
That was a Friday. Next day, took my son to see his grandparents and we just opened something just because. It was a hot day so we just went light and
so we opened a bottle of Prosseco La Tordera Cartizze. It comes from Valdodibbiane Italy and it falls under their DOCG label. Now I don’t really know a lot about italian wines. Most of my focus has always been Spain, United States and barely learning about France. I’ve been reading some interesting discussions lately between the Prosseco vs Glera debate but I’m not nearly ready to have that conversation. This particular prosecco I can say is extremely refreshing. It is dry and for outdoor/pool-like weekends fits the bill perfectly. However the first time I tried it was visiting Secarelli Resturant in San Juan (the best italian restaurant in Puerto Rico if you ever visit) in a completely different environment and it fit in perfectly as well so I find it very versatile. It has a low alcohol percent (11-12%) and as I recently learned is not even 100% Prosecco since it combines Bianchetta and Perera as well. That outta raise my grape count for my Road Towards 500 grape challenge. In mouth it has a nice acidity and above all it has essence of the sweetness of pears which makes sense considering its Dry and not Brut. Best part is that it’s not that expensive probably topping $20 at most. So it’s a good deal.
Then on Sunday, while visiting a friend who is also a client and one of the persons outside my old man that has helped me understand the wine world, he opened a few wines while we worked on a presentation. He started out with a Viña Vilano Crianza 2014 from Ribera del Duero. An inexpensive but not to shabby tempranillo that got itself a 90 label from WS. This was a 14% alcohol level wine that was nothing unexpected with typical nose of red fruit aromas and high tannins but still approachable and some minor level of complexity as it didn’t die in the glass after a while. For the price, this is not a bad battle wine. He followed up with a more established brand, Condado de Haza Reserva 2003. It took me a while to determine if it was corked or not. We gave it some time, let it breath a bit, and we came to the conclusion that it was just a tad musty on the nose but it wasn’t corked. That was validated because on mouth it was a delicious fruity experience with a long finish. Haza is yet another remarcable project of Alejandro Fernández, winemaker of Pesquera and whose other brands include La Granja and El Vinculo. Most see these wines as the equivalent of a 2nd or 3rd label but with time, they have been able to stand on their own and create their own following.
Overall, not a bad weekend of trying some new things and revisiting some other great wines. Anyway, the way the calendar is looking, i’m going to have quite a few lineups in the upcoming weekends. I’ll drink to that.
