The Reign in Spain
Sum-sum-summertime
Still "under the weather." Still soulsick in this unrelenting swampy Kansas City heat. Nothing unusual in it, but not much to like, either. It's gone on long enough that I was starting to reach for more white wine, reds seeming too. . . I dunno, warm, thick, HOT . . . but whites just don't trip my taste trigger like reds. They're refreshing, yes -- and another tip o' the winetaster hat to the consistently good Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand's Marlboro County -- they're refreshing, and tasty on their own, without food, whereas reds seem to need food accompaniments to come alive -- but anyway, good old Costco had a bin of Rioja Crianza that caught my eye.
And am I glad it did. I picked up a bottle of El Coto Rioja Crianza 2001, even though I don't often reach for Spanish wines. Don't know much about 'em. . . This one, however, is made solely from Tempranillo grapes, and that's a grape I like. With pizza, for sure -- and with BLTs, as I just discovered. My gosh, what a GREAT summer supper: fresh tomatoes, bacon, lettuce, mayo on good wheat bread, with an ear of corn on the side. And a big whoppin' glass of the El Coto. Happy mouth!
Andie's tip on this wine: Let it breathe. She claims it tasted better the second glass.
Rioja lesson of the day: I just read this online, "Rioja is to Spain what Chianti is to Italy." Hmm. At first, when I read this, I thought, "Oh." Like I understood it. Because Italy is known for Chianti, and Chianti is seemingly ubiquitous -- so that must mean that Rioja is the big common wine of Spain; but then I thought, "Well dang, I don't LIKE or TRUST most plain old Chiantis. Chianti Classicos, sure. But there are a boatload of bad Chiantis out there. . . " Come to think of it, maybe that's what it meant. Widely available, and wildly inconsistent.
Here's the little I know: Riojas are blended from a number of grapes (which isn't true of Chiantis, which as far as I know are basically made from the Sangiovese grape). The primary Rioja grape, though, is Tempranillo, which has a nice spicy red cherry flavor to it. "Crianza" means the Rioja has been aged for three years before being released. If it's been aged four years, it's called a "reserva," and if it's aged six years, "gran reserva." My Spanish is pitiful, so forgive me if I butchered that. In any case, the Crianzas are more affordable, having been aged for a shorter period of time -- but I PREFER them to the reservas, because they're. . . fresher, I think is the word I'm looking for. More fruit forward. Young and summery.
The El Coto Rioja Crianza 2001 has won awards, I see. Well, AN award, anyway: a silver medal in an international competition. More importantly to me, it wins the Winetaster Summer Sippin' Award. Go fix a BLT, cool this baby for 45 minutes in the fridge, pop it open, and enjoy. It's only ten bucks.
I'm heading back to Costco for more.
Still "under the weather." Still soulsick in this unrelenting swampy Kansas City heat. Nothing unusual in it, but not much to like, either. It's gone on long enough that I was starting to reach for more white wine, reds seeming too. . . I dunno, warm, thick, HOT . . . but whites just don't trip my taste trigger like reds. They're refreshing, yes -- and another tip o' the winetaster hat to the consistently good Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand's Marlboro County -- they're refreshing, and tasty on their own, without food, whereas reds seem to need food accompaniments to come alive -- but anyway, good old Costco had a bin of Rioja Crianza that caught my eye.
And am I glad it did. I picked up a bottle of El Coto Rioja Crianza 2001, even though I don't often reach for Spanish wines. Don't know much about 'em. . . This one, however, is made solely from Tempranillo grapes, and that's a grape I like. With pizza, for sure -- and with BLTs, as I just discovered. My gosh, what a GREAT summer supper: fresh tomatoes, bacon, lettuce, mayo on good wheat bread, with an ear of corn on the side. And a big whoppin' glass of the El Coto. Happy mouth!
Andie's tip on this wine: Let it breathe. She claims it tasted better the second glass.
Rioja lesson of the day: I just read this online, "Rioja is to Spain what Chianti is to Italy." Hmm. At first, when I read this, I thought, "Oh." Like I understood it. Because Italy is known for Chianti, and Chianti is seemingly ubiquitous -- so that must mean that Rioja is the big common wine of Spain; but then I thought, "Well dang, I don't LIKE or TRUST most plain old Chiantis. Chianti Classicos, sure. But there are a boatload of bad Chiantis out there. . . " Come to think of it, maybe that's what it meant. Widely available, and wildly inconsistent.
Here's the little I know: Riojas are blended from a number of grapes (which isn't true of Chiantis, which as far as I know are basically made from the Sangiovese grape). The primary Rioja grape, though, is Tempranillo, which has a nice spicy red cherry flavor to it. "Crianza" means the Rioja has been aged for three years before being released. If it's been aged four years, it's called a "reserva," and if it's aged six years, "gran reserva." My Spanish is pitiful, so forgive me if I butchered that. In any case, the Crianzas are more affordable, having been aged for a shorter period of time -- but I PREFER them to the reservas, because they're. . . fresher, I think is the word I'm looking for. More fruit forward. Young and summery.
The El Coto Rioja Crianza 2001 has won awards, I see. Well, AN award, anyway: a silver medal in an international competition. More importantly to me, it wins the Winetaster Summer Sippin' Award. Go fix a BLT, cool this baby for 45 minutes in the fridge, pop it open, and enjoy. It's only ten bucks.
I'm heading back to Costco for more.
posted by Winetaster | 9:16 AM
2 Comments:
Brilliant blog! It's a great public service you do to enable a pregnant woman to live vicariously. I toast you (albeit with mineral water)!
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