Wine rating: Da 2006
February 12th, 2009
The Ciudad Real area of La Mancha produces some interesting wines; in particular there are some really interesting Syrahs and Tempranillos. Many times the wines are really good value though prices are rising. Typically these wines are easy drinking, glugable reds….high alcohol but with gobs of sweet attractive fruit. The best can have some complexity and subtlety, with better equilibrium between fruit, alcohol, oak, and acidity. The worse are out of balance: too much alcohol, often over-ripe fruit and lacking acidity….or even worse over sharp acidity from enthusiastic acid rectification. The wines of La Mancha are hot weather wines, big wines that often resemble new world wines from similarly hot regions. They are big wines, even the most complex and elegant wines, and many of my Spanish wine tasters find them overwhelming. On the other hand, many of my foreign groups love them! I tend to drink them chilled with barbecues in the summer….when I first came to Spain I drank them more frequently at home, but I got a bit burned out and lately I’ve used them solely in tasting. Always a region to re-visit as change and improvement is constant.










