VINEgeek

This is the second appearance of the Mencía grape here in the Oddball series. The first was the terrific Viña Caneiro 2007 Ribeira Sacra. But this one is from Bierzo, another northwestern region of Spain.
La Mano Mencía Roble 2007 Bierzo
Producer: Vinos de Arganza
Grapes: 100% Mencía
Appellation: Bierzo (DO, Spain)
Vineyards: No info on the bottle or website, but if [...]

A recent post over at Benito’s Wine Reviews got me thinking about rosé. I need a reminder every once in a while. Almost every time I drink one, I think, “Why don’t I drink this more often?” Then I go back to my reds and whites. So, as I was contemplating what to pull from [...]

I intended to avoid Spain for this week’s Mourvèdre Monday. Three of the first 5 installments have been Spanish Monastrells and I wanted more variety. I had my sights set on opening either a Bandol or an Aussie bottle in my cellar. But I’ve been sick since last Monday and I’m just getting back to [...]

This is the fourth installment of Mourvèdre Monday, VINEgeek’s yearlong deep-dive into the Mourvèdre/Monastrell/Mataro grape. Check out the other posts in the series here.

After I announced that 2010 would be The Year of Mourvedre here at VINEgeek Enterprises, I got lots of great recommendations from my fellow winos. This bottle was suggested by @Sonadora of Wannabe [...]

I only became aware of this Spanish wine region back in July from Eric Asimov’s terrific article in the New York Times. Take a few minutes to click through and read it. Go on. I’ll wait here.
Ok, pretty cool, huh? Remote/undiscovered wine region. Indigenous grapes. Ancient wine-making tradition. Dramatic terrain. Winemakers who care about doing [...]

I’m still sort of tip-toeing into this Mourvèdre Monday series. I’m saving the big guns for later in the year and I’m sticking with a bargain Spanish bottle again this week. This one got 90 points from Parker and Tanzer, so let’s check it out.
Producer: Casa Castillo
Grapes: 100% Monastrell (Mourvèdre)
Appellation: Jumilla (DO, Spain)
Vineyards: From dry-farmed estate [...]

Just after the New Year, I decided to make 2010 ‘The Year of Mourvèdre‘ for VINEgeek and pledged to institute Mourvèdre Mondays. For this, the first installment, I didn’t want to begin with a top-dog wine (Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape, for example), mostly because I didn’t want the rest of the year to seem like a letdown. [...]

Pardevalles ‘Gamonal’ Prieto Picudo 2006
Producer: Vinedos y Bodega Pardevalles
Grapes: 100% Prieto Picudo – Google Translate converts this to both ‘acacia weevil’ and ‘billfish’. However, the importer’s website says it means “bunched and peaked” for the way the grapes grow in a very tight cluster and the bunches taper sharply at the bottom. I prefer acacia [...]

There is very little information about this wine online. It’s not even listed on the importer’s website and the winery’s blog doesn’t say much more than what’s on the label. But it got 90+ points from Jay Miller in the Wine Advocate so I guess that’s why it ended up at Costco. When I saw [...]

I typically look for wines with specificity: a single grape variety, a single vineyard, etc. I like to think I can learn more that way and that I’m getting a truer essence of something or other. But I’m also a sucker for interesting blends. I imagine the best qualities of each grape marrying together into [...]