Spain Week!

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the W(h)ining Army Wives! We've got another great wine evaluation for you guys to watch/read! I hope you're ready for some Spanish wines.

I even made a vegetable paella (a Spanish rice dish, with peppers, onions, tomatoes, and peas in our version) for our w(h)iners this week, and enjoyed some Manchego cheese (also Spanish), which turned out to be delicious--we recommend them both! [If you want the recipe for the paella, just ask! It was super easy to make, and really yummy!]

Anyway, we actually tried four different wines this week, since we missed out on last week's meeting--and I love Spain, so I couldn't help myself.

We tried out a Rioja, a dry sherry, a cream sherry, and a cava.

Watch the video below for a recap of our best tasting moments, and read even below-er for a breakdown of our thoughts on the wines!




And now that you've watched, and laughed with us, here's an explanation in more depth of each wine, and what we'd recommend for you to try on your own!

Rioja; Marqués de Riscal; Reserva 2007

We started the night off with a dry red. Rioja comes from the Rioja region of Spain, is the most famous Spanish red wine--and it's delicious!

As soon as we stuck our noses in glasses, the scent of oak was apparent. A dark chocolate scent soon followed, and a couple of our w(h)iners found a hint of pepper, as well. Only one w(h)iner thought she smelled some kind of dark berry underneath it all.

Though oak was the most prominent scent in the Rioja, it did not carry into the taste. Instead, we were greeted once again with chocolate and some kind of spice--perhaps pepper. We were also surprised to find an earthy taste--which one w(h)iner described as "liquid dirt," while another qualified it as "dry leaves." Which is not as gross as it sounds...The tannins (that dry feeling in your mouth) certainly made an appearance--though not overwhelmingly--and we all experienced a delightful warming experience, without an unpleasant burn.

In the end, we nearly unanimously believed the Rioja has balance, harmony, and is complete. We just didn't see much of a complexity in this one. We loved the label design--let's face it, we all judge wine by its label--thought the cost was fair (at a delicious $15), and unanimously agreed on a "Yum!" classification for the overall taste.

Bottom line: Would we recommend this 2007 vintage Rioja? Absolutely.


Manzanilla Sherry; Savory & James

We continued the tasting with a dry, white sherry. Sherry is a Spanish invention, in which grape spirit is added to wine after the fermentation process is complete, bringing the final alcohol content up. We were all very interested to try this fortified wine, since none of us had had sherry before.

The initial scent was off-putting, to say the least, receiving descriptions ranging from "nail polish remover" to "rubbing alcohol" to "rotten or overripe fruit." As we put our noses to the test, attempting to get past the clear alcohol content (at a hefty 17%), we were able to discern a slight apple--still overripe--and maybe even a honey scent.

The taste was no better, sadly. The initial alcohol smell pretty well continued into the taste, leaving us with terms like "bitter"--a serious w(h)iner-favorite description--"anise" (which goes into black licorice), and, once again, "nail polish remover." Though the wine did start out with a watery taste, nearly undetectable, it soon developed into a taste that had all of us cringing, and struggling through the rest of the tasting.

Oddly enough, we actually did qualify the sherry as a complex wine, and found the label to be fairly appealing. The price itself was good--at about $10 a bottle--but our final decision on the overall taste was unanimously, "YUCK." (I'm using capital letters because it is seriously gross. I know--I'm risking professional writing for a more accurate description. I am serious here, people.)

Bottom line: Would we recommend this Manzanilla Sherry? Not to our foulest enemies.

(Side note: there are three other types of sherry, and I'm still holding out hope that one of them will appeal to me. Come on, Spain! Help me out here!)


Bristol Cream Sherry; Harvey's

We continued our tasting with a sweet, cream sherry--a popular export from Spain, though they tend to prefer the dry stuff (hopefully not Manzanilla) within country. Cream sherry is made by adding a sweeter grape variety at the end of the fermentation process.

Starting with the scents of the wine, we delved right in a caramel, honey smell. Though the alcohol scent was still lingering a little, we were able to discern a kind of apricot or apple, as well as a slight nutty smell mixing into the bouquet.

Moving into tasting the sherry, we found a creamy texture--though one w(h)iner thought of it as more of a watery texture. The cream led us to an instant caramel and honey flavor. In general, it tasted vey sugary and sweet--and was even off-putting to some w(h)iners who go for that sort of wine. Again, we found a warming sensation with the wine--not quite as long and lingering as with the Rioja, but it was certainly present.

We found a harmony in the tastes, if not any other general balance, complexity, or completeness. The label was sort a "meh" for us--with an uncertain "appealing" classification across the board--but the cost was low (again at about $10). Our final decisions on the taste, however, were not harmonized. We came in with two with a "Yuck," two with "Meh," and one with a "Yum."

Bottom Line: Would we recommend this Bristol Cream Sherry? If you like your wines very sweet, and pretty strong, yes. If you don't particularly like sweet wines (or even if you do), I would probably avoid this one.


Cava; Poema

We ended the night, though I hadn't planned on drinking it, with a sparking wine. The Spanish version of Champagne (which can technically only be labelled so if it comes from Champagne, France), cava has a similar name restriction--it can only be called a cava if it is made in the traditional Champagne method (in Spain, of course).

When we started off with the aromas of the cava, we found, of course, a bubbly smell--though a couple of our w(h)iners detected a strong, sort of "perm solution" chemical smell. A little apple or pear scent was hidden among the bubbles, as well.

As far as the taste went, the w(h)iners pretty unanimously agreed that the cava tends to taste light, airy, and oddly smooth, despite the bubbles. The taste lingers well, and actually lends itself to an interesting feeling of salivation afterwards--or, as one w(h)iner so gracefully put it, "My mouth is spitty."

We did not find the label to be terribly appealing, but the price was right--at a nice $11. We ended up, again, though, with differing opinions of the overall quality of the cava, with two "Yums," one "Meh," and one "Yuck."

Bottom Line: Would we recommend the Poema Cava? Maybe. I know, it's not too conclusive, but I think we generally agreed that it was a wine we would drink, but not one we would necessarily seek out.


Overall, we had a great time tasting a lot of different wines, but I think we will go back to two wines per week from now on--much simpler, and not so overwhelming. Sorry to have such a long post this time, but we had a lot to say about these wines!

We hope you'll join us next time to try some wines, and enjoy some laughter with friends. Until next time, friends!