Thursday, April 26, 2012

A Grand Couple from Cariñena


A Grand Couple from Cariñena

Let me introduce you to a grand couple, from the area of Cariñena, situated about halfway between Madrid and Barcelona. One is red and the other is white and neither costs the earth yet these entry level wines are well worth getting to know.

St Jose de Aguaron, Monasterio de las Vinos, 2011 Garnacha Tempranillo, 13 ABV, €9.99 stockists nationwide  

 Colour is a beetroot red. Nose of candle wax. Not really! But there was a candle burning right alongside. There are notes of red fruit, such as strawberry.
There is beautiful red fruit on the palate and it is quite smooth, really well balanced and so much better than you’d expect for €9.99. Intense, young, fresh and fruity, the label promises and the bottle delivers!


St Jose de Aguaron, Monasterio de las Vinos, 2011 Macabeo, 12.5 ABV, €9.99 stockists nationwide 

This white also delivers, big time.
Light honey is the colour while the nose is fruity, mainly apple. On the palate, it is fresh and fruity, a refreshing mouthful with a decent finish. This has the second glass factor. Maybe the second bottle factor. Affordable and worthwhile.
Macebeo is often described as the Spanish workhorse grape and is also known as Viura and as Macabeu and Maccabéo in Roussillon.To describe this historic grape as a work horse is a bit harsh, particularly in the light of the excellent wine in this bottle. 

The installations, built to look like a monastery (hence the title of this group of wines),  of the producers Grandes Vinos y Viñedos are located in the municipality of Cariñena, the most important town in the Campo de Cariñena area of Aragón.

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