“Never judge a book by its cover,” they always say. Ain’t that the truth? I’m sure we’ve all seen some gorgeous beauty across the room, only to have it ruined when you hear him or her speak, leaving you recoiling in horror. The same holds true for just about everything in life, wine included. Exhibit A: Cycles Gladiator wine. Beautiful Art Nouveau label, flowery copy- surely, if they’ve invested time in creating such beautiful artwork to house their wine, it must be worth the $5 gamble.
Fail.
My husband stopped at the municipal liquor store [aka “The Muni”] near us and picked this bottle out. When he came home with it, he was so excited for us to try it. Did he find the next great cheap-o red?
I should mention that I love my husband, but I do not love this wine. The biggest disappointment was seeing his zealous face slowly slump in disappointment. I wanted to lie, but alas, that wouldn’t be true to him, myself, nor to all of you.
To clarify, it’s not that I hated this wine- it just didn’t have much personality. I felt a bit duped. When I went to write this review, I initially referred to it as “table wine” (which was a stretch), because I completely forgot that this is technically a Cabernet Sauvignon! You should know when you are drinking a Cab: big, bold flavors of currant, spice and oak with great tannic structure- just begging you to go primal on a rare piece of steak. This Cab is like when you shake a person’s hand and their wrist goes limp, fingers hardly squeezing back. Lackluster. Boring. Meh.
Sad to say, Cycles Gladiator was all show and no go for this Lush. At around $5, I’m deeming this wine as the Skank bottle of the month. Buy it when you’re pert near hammered, and just need something more to take you that next level. Or better yet, just spend a dollar or two more and get something you’ll respect in the morning.
A few weeks ago, I sat down with Eugenio & Teresa Meschini, co-owners of the winery Famiglia Meschini. They met at St. Thomas University, where he was a Chemistry major and she was a French and Business major. Guy meets girl, falls in love, marries, they have babies, yadda yadda yadda. A few years later, they invest in a vineyard being developed by a good friend near his hometown of Mendoza, Argentina. For me, THIS is where the magic begins.
Eugenio & Teresa
Early on in our visit, the Meschini’s came clean: they are not wine purists. They are atypically fearless with their blends, always brainstorming new combinations. Also, these folks are not afficianados in lab coats, J Crew khakis and dark rimmed glasses discussing the aromatic nuances of wet dog and feet (two ACTUAL terms used by wine critics- I cannot make this up). The Meschini’s come to the wine industry having been lovers of the grape and making what they enjoy. As Teresa put it, “We make wines, but not to impress. If no one else likes our wine, we’ll just have to drink them.” Amen, sister!
Eugenio then discussed the early 1990s wine-boom in Argentina. In the mid-20th Century, Argentine wines were “crap”- nothing but glorified church wine at best. He firmly believes, though many Argentines don’t want to admit it, that the French influence during the 1970s/early 80s was crucial. He said the French brought new techniques and standards, including the use of stainless steel tanks and coal, that advanced the local production of today.
Famiglia Meschini is located about 3200 ft above sea level right at the foothills of the Andes Mountains in Mendoza, facing West. The vines get hot sun during the day and cool night breezes to maintain a balanced stress, which provides depth and character to the grapes. Meschini vineyards sell 90% of their grapes to other wineries. What they do with the other 10%, well, let’s find out.
Spring sippin’ on the patio
I tasted two from their line: a white blend and a Malbec-Syrah blend. For those die-hard Malbec lovers, I implore you to try the Malbec -Syrah. The white blend is like a white Bordeaux, but with a Latin kick from the influence of the lightly effervescent Torrontes. I poured a glass one sunny afternoon and sat back on my patio. “Ah, life is good,” I thought to myself. The sun glistened off the condensating glass of light golden nectar. The aroma of apple and citrus fruit are apparent, and upon first sip, these flavors swirl around your mouth. There is also an ever so slight hint of what I’d call vanilla oak. It’s soft and round, not super sweet nor syrupy, yet a little heavier than a crisp Sauvignon Blanc or Torrontes due to the Chardonnay. The Ugni Blanc & Sauvignon Blanc keep the crisp acidic citrus and floral notes balanced while the Torrontes gives it that apricot Latin kick of fizz I was referring to earlier. (Whew! Time to grab my labcoat and glasses after that diatribe.)
This is a fun wine! Drink it minus food distractions and you’ll enjoy it. Or, I paired it with a combination of grilled cod, spicy Asian noodles and spinach salad. (I know- WTF? It was at the end of the month as was our grocery budget.) This wine would pair well with fish and salad but it would also pair well with spicy Asian fare. I had enough for one glass, and let a couple girlfriends sample it, instantly they asked where they could get it. That’s a ringing endorsement!
I implore you to support this great family vineyard. If you live in the Western Metro, you know I’m sending you to Byerly’s in Minnetonka (PS, their wine sale is happening right now.) If you live in the Eastern Metro or Western Wisconsin, check out Swirl in Afton. Live in the city? Sorella Wines, France 44, Solo Vino, Thomas Liquor, South Lyndale Liquors are a few as well.
Taste Testing & Average Price : 2006 Bodega LAN Rioja Crianza: $13.99, 2007 Marques de Caceres Rioja Crianza: $19, 2009 Montebuena Rioja: $11
Where buy now:: Surdyk’s, Zipp’s, Byerly’s Wines & Spirits, Sorella Wines & Spirits + several other fine establishments. I’ve seen Montebuena the most around town for around $7-8. I’ve found Marques de Caceres for $12 at Costco. At wine sales, you’ll find the LAN around $10-11
Grapes: Tempranillo
Region: Rioja, Spain
Rioja tasting
A fine evening of good friends, food & wine. Viva la primavera! If you’ve been reading the website, by now you know I’m having a current love affair with Spain and particularly with Riojas. But, I really wanted to explore some of my favorites a little more. Am I just a slut for the Spanish grape or are there nuances that will help me decide on my one true love?
Enter friends to help in this endeavor. We bagged up the wines and I didn’t see what was in which bag because sure enough, I’d recognize the top label. The six of us sat out on the patio on a peculiarly warm early Spring Saturday afternoon. One by one, we sipped each of the three wines while noshing on almonds and salted cured meats.
The buzzer went off, on the oven, alas my Nueske bacon wrapped Medjool dates stuffed with Manchego cheese were done. If you haven’t made these before – just do it. Medjool dates are a bargain at Holyland’s grocery store. The sucky thing is you have to pit them but it’s a sticky good time. Stuff them with Parmigiano, Manchego or Bleu cheese. Wrap in bacon and cook up. The bacon caramelizes with the date and before you know it, your own buzzer is going off. Back to the tasting.
Riojas with bacon wrapped dates, salted cured meats and almonds
I came running out with the bacon goodies and we discussed what wines we liked. 1, 2 or 3. Then we had the big reveal as we removed the bags. Here was the overall consensus among the six of us.
#2 was our favorite – Bodegas LAN Rioja Crianza
#3 was our next favorite – Montebueno Rioja
#1 was last, still good but ranked last – Marques de Caceres Rioja Crianza
Our favorite just so happened to be what Wine Spectator deemed as #44 on the top 100 wines list of 2010. Believe me, none of us are expert panel judges. Let me give you a few reasons why we liked it best. It had this depth and complexity upon tasting it. Not in an overly dry way, just aged enough to give it the character that seemed to be lacking a bit with the other ones we tried. This is due to the wine being labeled a Crianza. It’s aged longer in oak, giving it that oakier, fuller bodied and bolder wine. A little more spice, not as fruit forward as the Montebuena but made you want to keep sipping it over and over. It really opened up the longer it sat out. So, if you have one of those nifty aerators, throw that on the bottle. (You can find all kinds of aerators from $7-$20 at Home Goods, skip the Venturi) Due to it’s nice long finish, we all agreed this wine really stood out as pairing the best with food, especially the bacon wrapped dates.
What’s interesting is we liked #3 second, this was the most mild, fruit flavored of the Riojas. Montebuena is a young (joven) Rioja, not aged as long as the LAN Crianza and thus lighter in body. As I mentioned before, this one was more fruit-forward in taste. What we loved about this wine was that you could drink it alone! This was an easy, drinkable and agreeable red wine. Dare I say, if you like Pinot Noir, try this Rioja. With a $7 price point to match, you aren’t taking a big gamble.
The one we liked the least, which isn’t to say we disliked at all, was the Marques de Caceres. I reviewed this wine a month ago or so, use the nifty search function to find that complete review. This was also a Crianza, aged longer in oak, it did have more complexity and was less fruit forward than the Montebuena. The taste was more demure, it just didn’t seem to have the vibrancy we liked in the LAN.
We all agreed that we’d sip any of these as they were all great tasting wines. LAN, for around $10-$14, you just can’t go wrong. Plus, how cool to give this as a housewarming gift or to bring to a dinner party. You can act like you know your stuff by letting your host know that you’re providing a wine featured on Wine Spectator’s Top 100. If I’m strapped for cash or see a crazy good deal on the Montebuena, that’s definitely going in my cart. If neither are around and all I find is the Marques de Caceres on sale, I’d gladly pick that one up. So, I guess we can all surmise that I truly am a slut for the Spanish grape and no one will completely capture my heart. I’m too easily persuaded by money. In this case, less is more!
I challenge you to do the same with friends. Pick three of the same style of wine: three Pinot Noirs, three Sauvignon Blancs, or perhaps three Cab’s (you get the drift). Select three in a similar price range, perhaps place them in bags to keep their anonymity, and taste away. This will help you start to figure out what you like and it’s a wonderfully sociable alternative to just sitting around getting drunk. (NOT that there’s anything wrong with that.)
Wine for Slobs, Snobs & Swells | The Savvy Lush welcomes the Twin Cities' Sippers & Swillers
