This wine was the best of a few Spanish Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines we tried recently.  I liked it so much I bought a case for home use.  Many Spanish Cabernets have green fruit and/or over-ripe fruit…sometimes it has both at the same time!  It’s a challenge in some of the hotter areas to achieve tannic ripeness before the fruit aromas become over-ripe. 

I am quite down on Albariño lately.  It’s a grape I fell in love with over 8 years ago before I came to Spain.  One of my first wine trips when I came to live here was to Rias Baixas in Galicia, the homeland of Albariño.

Always looking for a good value Priorat…some of my most favorite wines but very, very pricy.  At Bodega Santa Cecilia one day I noticed a Priorat priced around 15€ and decided to try.  Love it and decided to put it into some of my wine tastings with some clients.  I set about doing some research on the wine and come to find that it has just been rated above 90 by Parker….too funny…here I was thinking I had uncovered a hidden gem!

The wines that have given some of the most hedonistic drinking pleasure lately have been Garnachas from northern Spain.  Not just any old Garnachas but old vine Garnachas that retain the grape’s softness and approachability, but that also offer a unique concentration of intense fruit and fresh acidity.  They are wines that offer sufficient complexity for the wine lover yet also are so easy to drink that they are the perfect reds to convert novice wine drinkers with!

Most of the wines made in Mallorca are geared towards the thirsty tourist hordes and do not aspire to excellence.  However there are a few wineries making some really outstanding wines.  One of the pioneers on the island was the winery Anima Negra, which has been making some of Spain’s top wines since the mid-90s.  Anima Negra has always been faithful to the island indigenous varieties of Callet, Fogoneu, and Mantonegro, though they sometimes blend in small quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.  They have a top wine that they only make in the best years called Anima Negre Son Negre, retail over 100€.  Their flagship wine, the one that built their reputation is simply called Anima Negra and retails for about 30€.  They are both fantastic wines, though pricy.