Spanish Sons Tempranillo
Wine: Spanish Sons Tempranillo.
Grape: Tempranillo
Region: Castilla y Leon, Spain
Vintage: 2007
Price: $7.99
In the glass: Spanish Sons wine is a very deep garnet-red color with a dense core going out into a fine light garnet-red rim definition with high viscosity.
On the nose: It has highly pungent, peppery black fruit basket thrown into a blender all over it, with nice notes of graphite and some rustic earth-driven minerals, then a touch of herbal character and phenols.
On the palate: The wine is a little closed at first, which leads me to open it and let it breathe for a good hour prior to tasting it. Once it opens up, Spanish Sons reveals bright forward predominantly red fruit with vibrant acidity over earthy crushed loganberry and sloe fruit. Technically, it is a very soft wine on the palate, meaning the tannins are fully balanced and there is a suppleness, although a hint of phenolic compound hits through the midpalate and into the decent finish.
Odds and ends: I have often and will continue to praise the virtues of Spanish wine producers for being able to create interesting and tasty wines that can give just about any other region's wines a run for their money. This Spanish Sons offers another great peek at why Spain is so strong in the American market among wines costing less than $10. This is where most of the population wants to see its drinking wines, and there are a great number of wines competing in this category. I would estimate one has to taste 10 to 12 wines before finding one worthy of the expense, but then again, that's why I keep tasting and writing. This wine is ready to drink now through 2011 and should be well-matched with risotto.
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.
