Albero Tempranillo Barrica
Wine: Albero Tempranillo Barrica
Grape: Tempranillo
Region: Central Spain
Vintage: 2006
Price: $5.99
In the glass: This Albero wine is a deep crimson-red color with a semi-opaque core going out into a violet-red rim definition with light viscosity.
On the nose: The wine has warm crushed black and red fruit, candied cranberries, raspberry coulis, sweetish -- almost buttery -- notes of sun-ripened cherries, berry sorbet and underlying white pepper notes on top of vanilla from American oak.
On the palate: This wine is quite mouth-filling on the entry with good concentrated red and black fruit, layers of soft black cherries with black fruits of the forest, definite spice and pepper components, and again that unmistakable hint of creamy vanilla from the American oak. It is very clean and rounded throughout. The midpalate is ripe with firm tannins, and yet there is supple fruit and quite a polished backbone in the wine through the nice finish. It is a solidly made wine from this normally rustic varietal.
Odds and ends: Spanish wines are a hit with consumers in the United States because they usually are bargains, such as this Albero wine at less than $6. It could easily have been three times more. In addition, this wine is made from 100 percent organically grown tempranillo grapes, which are sometimes called vino tinto.
Gil Lempert-Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89016-0749, or e-mail him at gil@winevegas.com.
