Carignan, Spain, Syrah, Tempranillo, Wine

Value Alert! – Crazy Good Spanish Gem For $11!

Posted by Martin D. Redmond on

I picked up this wine, the 2010 Celler Piñol Terra Alta Ludovicos, from the Wine Mine in Oakland.  It’s a great wine shop with a knowledgeable proprietor and staff, a diverse collection of wines from around the world, and good prices.  Their tag line is “The Wine Mine – Wine Gems, Rock Bottom Prices”.  So far, I’ve found that to be the case as I’ve gotten a few good recommendations including a crazy good Nero D’Avola, and an excellent Sparkling Rosé from Sicily (click here for my blog post) The owner, David Sharp was recently voted “Best Wine Guru” in the East Bay Express – Best of the East Bay 2011.  They do weekly wine tastings for $1! And that’s how I discovered this wine…

2010 Cellar Pinol Ludovicus

Here’s the wine geek stuff:

Where it’s from: Spain> Catalunya> Tarragona> Terra Alta

The grapes: 40% Garnacha, 20% Syrah, 15% Carignan, 15% Tempranillo, 10% Merlot

Aging: Four months in French and American oak barrels

Cost: $11

Alcohol: 14%

Here’s my tasting notes:

Deep dark garnet color with very aromatic dark fruit, earth and faint tobacco aromas. On the palate, it’s satiny, and medium-bodied with well-integrated tannins, and blackberry, blueberry, vanilla, and a hint of tobacco flavors. Medium-long finish. Great QPR for $11!

As noted above, the wine is produced from grapes sourced in the Terra Alta region, which is the most southerly of Catalonia’s wine regions.  It’s a region with which I wasn’t familiar.  It achieved D.O. status relatively recently, in 1985. It is a part of the Catalunya (Catalonia) wine region, which is best known for its diversity of wine styles.  The two most well-known styles being Cava, and its still reds produced from a wine range of grapes including Grenache, Tempranillo, Syrah, Carignan, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.

This is going to be a repeat purchase for me!  I highly recommend! Click here to find the wine

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