Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Garnacha is Spanish for Grenache, which is French for Cannonau, which is Italian for one of the most widely planted grapes in the world. The grape probably originated in Aragon (Spain) and migrated to France and Italy from there.
Garnacha can be light and fruity but the Espelt is fairly robust, a lovely ruby color in the glass. It is an interesting wine, with a very dry mouth feel. Wait, did I actually say mouth feel? WTH is mouth feel? Sounds vaguely obscene. No. I. Did. Not.
The wine is very dry on the palate (just my style). There is something oddly intriguing about the black fruit and how it sort of lingers on the tongue. It has nice tannins to give it a bit of a bite with a smooth and easy finish.
The vines were planted in 1920 and are tended to using modern methods of viticulture with an end goal of keeping the vines off of the chemicals. There are a lot of buzz words that describe the process. Bio-dynamic. Organic. I hate each of them, but it is difficult to get the point across without using the jargon. And, honestly, a lot of oranic wine is just OK. Or worse. But I love this stuff.
Here's what Parker's outfit had to say......
A magnificent custom cuvee for Eric Solomon, this 2010 was made from high-elevation vineyards in the Costa Brava planted in granite. It was fashioned by the brilliant Jean-Marc Lafage, whose wines are reviewed elsewhere in this article. Composed of 100% Grenache aged 3 months in new French oak, it reveals copious aromas of raspberry jam, black currants, kirsch, flowers and forest floor, full body, terrific fruit, lots of complexity already, and a multidimensional mouthfeel.
They gave it 92 points and I would concur. This is a very good wine and it comes in right at ten bucks. Pair it with Italian red sauce, a steak, or a smoked cheese.
Bonus for Throwback Thursday:
Yes, they're lip synching. Might be American Band Stand. I know a girl who used to be one of those dancers.
As Always,
TWC
Photo Credit (unless otherwise noted): ©TWC, all rights reserved
