The Latino in me was in a mood to cook. I decided on my Chicken milanesa, black beans, avocado salad and some white rice. What wine did I decide on? Tempranillo of Course! The wine I decided on was 2005 Ramon Bilbao Tempranillo.
I picked up this wine over the weekend because 2 weeks ago I was watching a cooking show on PBS which features Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow traveling thur Spain. The show does not focus on wine but this particular episode had both Mario and Gwyneth visiting the Ramon Bilbao Winery facility. Now the wino in me always takes notes about wines or wineries especially when they are shown on TV or print and sure enough our visit to a wine shop over this past weekend yielded me this wine.
The Ramon Bilbao winery is in the Rioja Alta region of Spain approximately 190 miles north of Madrid. The word Tempranillo translates to "Early". The grape usually ripens mid September earlier than other red Spanish varietals. Rioja has always been known as the best region for growing Tempranillo and for this wino there is no better made anywhere else in the world.
The 2005 Tempranillo has a dark crimson color. It exhibits cherry and baking spice aromas with subtle tobacco characteristics. On the palate the wine has great acidity; another good characteristic of Tempranillo and a lingering peppery finish. I was very very satisfied with this wine. How can I not be for $11.99 per bottle. Oh yeah! that is another great thing about Spanish wines. There quality exceeds there value.
Cheers!
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I always love the acidic and peppery spice of Tempranillo but never realized that it actually meant "Early". Very cool!
ReplyDeleteI learned something new! Thank you!