Translation: Red Wine from Spain.
Spanish wine is intoxicating, for more than one reason. The red wine from this region echoes the passion and sensuality associated with Spanish culture. It is common to associate wine with food and music in Spain, as drinking wine during meals is a tradition.
Here are a few notes about Spanish red wine:
Granacha: More commonly known by the French spelling Grenche, is probably the most widely planted red wine grape in the world. It is generally soft bodied, with flavors of berries and spice.
Tempranillo: This is actually considered a black grape, used to make full-bodied wine. It is the primary grape used to make Rioja and is usually blended with Granacha. Look for flavors of berry, plum, vanilla, and herb with oak undertones.
Rioja:This can refer to a red, white, or rose wine from Spain. Red varieties are usually a blend of Tempranillo and Granacha. Red Rioja is close to Pinot Noir, a softer red with rich berry notes.
Sherry: a fortified wine that can range from light and delicate to rich and heavy, sometimes dessert-like sweet. Remember The Cask of Amontillado from Edgar Allen Poe? That was sherry. Sherry is actually made from a white wine grape, but appears light amber to dark ruby in color.
Want to try for yourself? Look for Red Guitar, a Spanish winery that makes a delicious Tempranillo-Granacha blend as well as a rose Rioja. Look for other blends, such as Cabernet Sauvigon-Tempranillo from Spanish Quarter, a Spanish winery that also produces a white wine blend of Chardonnay and Albarino (you can also play virtual futbol on their website). Serve these red wine blends at a temperature similar to other reds, about 61-65F.
Spanish red wine is not exactly Sweet (unless you are drinking sherry), but it is not at all Bitter. Look for affordable wines at $10-15 per bottle.
*Please drink responsibly – drinking and driving is not Sweet at all*
