It happens sometimes that Vinomaker will go down to the cellar, to fetch a bottle of wine for dinner, only to reappear with a bottle of something that neither of us can remember buying. Or being given. Or stealing. Or having acquired in some other way. Not a clue. Last night's dinner wine was one such bottle.
The Traza, 2006, Graciano has a very informative label, so I'm not totally in the dark as to this wine's origin. For instance, I know the name of the winemaker, David Sampedro. I know it's 100% made from the Graciano grape and it's from the La Rioja region in Spain. And that's just the front label: the back label is chock-a-block with info like, for example, this wine has seen "no oak".
In my Wines of the World class, I learned that the Graciano grape, of unknown origin (here we go again), only accounts for 1-2% of the total grape acreage in Rioja, where it usually blended with Tempranillo and Carignane. Interestingly, Graciano has a slightly unusual growth cycle with a late bud break, so late ripening, and it's leaves turn red and drop off late in the season - which would have me thinking, virus!
Initially, the wine tasted a little metallic, but showed splendidly with food; nice colour extraction; nice tannin structure; nice fruity aroma; could have done with a bit more acid. On the whole, rather enjoyable. I'm left wondering if there is another bottle of this particular wine downstairs that I also don't know about.
Friday, January 18, 2013
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6 comments:
V=girl! "Or stealing.";-/
This post is so well done; humor, pedagogic, and well written with a bit of intrigue, that I'm quite confident that you have a book in you waiting to come out. "Vinsanity, Musings of a Transplanted Vinogirl"
NHW does have a point there.
NHW: A book? I can barely string three words together, but thank you. (I do like your title though - "Transplanted" - nice.)
Thud: Would you buy a copy?
I've told Vinogirl before that she should do a book, and she could include photographs.
This was a nice tasting note post.
Tomasso: I'll leave the book writing to you!
False modesty...church for you on sunday!
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