Review for Tuesday - 02/21/2006 by Ed

2003 Numanthia - Termes - Tinta de Toro Our first Spanish wine was a strong start. Strong as in, a berry/cherry aroma(er), followed by a bold, robust tannin taste all come together and KA THUNK ya.If you're around to survive the first assault, a long dry spicy finish makes it all worthwhile. In general we thought the second taste was *nothing's quite what I thought* it was after olives, grapes, cheese, or chorizo . In simpler terms -> Take food with this wine and wait 3 hours before swimming...One winer compared this wine to a stripper with tats, while another, to euro trash with tats. OH BOY, Don't you want to run out and buy one? Sometimes wine logic escapes me but hey, once the warm fuzzy feeling washes over you, who cares! We liked this wine, very much, but **bottom line** "for $30 large would you buy it?" See the glasses, or bathroom objects below.

2001 Quinta de S. Francisco - Óbidos This Portuguese wine didn't make much of an impact, except for the bottle hitting the recycle bin! The winers broke into 2 factions, Faction 1: a mild sweet taste with a dead end finish. Nothing special "..like a diet potato chip on the whole, not filling" split in half it might be good add another wine and it might work Faction 2: an easy drinking, easy sipping wine - International style, little berry little hint of spice Please ignore the winers thought provoking discussion about what wine is appropriate for a theme night. The Geo Political debate over Spain and Portugal was, on the whole, more interesting than the wine debate. The moral of this story is don't debate after 2 bottles of wine.

2002 Marqués de Càceres - Rioja Crianza OK, so how does a funky smelling wine, with a smooth taste, like a Chianti (deep funky bitter cherry), tart, that's simply too young to have complexity, sound to you? I think that sums it up for this one. Ok Vanna, who's our next contestant(*now that you're gone*)?

2002 Las Rocas de San Alejandro - Garnacha We choked our way through the next wine. I've attempted to describe the comments from the winers below but I'm falling far short of the audio in this **one**. You have to hear the distain for this wine in the clip... Pretty bad, lots of bite - no balance - you need a hefty cheese to cut this down. Pungent unidentifiable odor, if your looking for a hard time, this is your wine. Vile unpleasant odor. The smell doesn't get you ready for what your gonna get. Did some Granny Smith apples slip into the crushing?Turpentine odor with Eucalyptus. Bitter cherry over oak(ed) but stays just above a toilet bowl rating. Aged in putrid casks, bad odor. Find the wine maker and punch them in the nose! One winer would drink it and said "Not bad but nothing special". A glowing endorsement giving the comments above. *Sour sour grapes make bitter wine and your no funny valentine.*

2003 Capcanes - Mas Donis Barrica If your keeping score at home, than score this one as one more unremarkable generic red wine. Drinkable, yet bitter with nothing special going on.A dry bitter red wine of medium body. Many felt the tannins dominated the flavor without much to the finish. *If at first you won't try, You've gotta try again.*

2004 Vina Alarba - Old Vines Grenache This ran the gambit of opinions: no thanks - God, this is awful, it's drinkable, nice, best wine of the evening. The thin veil of civility was thrown aside as winer C thought this was the best wine of the evening, and winer B took umbrage to that statement. Umbrage wins the word of the week, for week 12. While we make every effort to provide a reasonable review, we take no responsibility after five bottles! You can hear the love in the room on the audio clip. *Less than love is nothing*

2002 El Grifo - Malvasia Dulce To complete our night, Steve's wife Kristin made Blonde Brownies dulce de leche with chocolate fudge sauce! Sorry folks, you really missed a treat! A light sweet wine. Once the edge gives way you're rewarded with a smooth vanilla - apple taste. Basically if you like sweeter wine then check this out.