2010 Giesta Dao

I was at a conference last week and met a few wine-loving folks while there. After talking with them about wine and enjoying a fantastic dinner at Shula’s Steak House, I was inspired to review another wine. We have a handful of bottles marked for review and tonight the figurative spin of the wheel led us to open the 2010 Giesta Dao from Portugal.

The facts:

2010 Giesta Dao
Variety: 32% Touriga-Nacional, 45% Tinta-Roriz (Tempranillo), and 23% Jaen

Region: Portugal
Winemaker: Nuno Cancela de Abreu

My take

The nosy is a spicy reddish purple. In a way, I’d say the nose is somewhat misleading. I didn’t get purple when tasting this one (and for me that’s a good thing), but the more the wine opens up, the less spicy it gets. What you do get is a full-bodied, juicy (dare I say chewy?) wine that feels rather new-world in terms of style. You get a burst of pinkish red fruit up front (that’s the new world I’m talking about) with a bit of spicyness in the middle, and a relatively long finish. The wine is not at all dry. To the contrary, it’s rather silky smooth going down.

In the end, it’s not overly interesting, but not one-note or boring either. It’s a bit too new world style for my palate. I’d prefer less up front fullness and a little more complexity in the range of flavors. That being said, if you like a new world style wine with a velvety texture, then this one might just hit the spot.

Price Point: $13 a bottle

2008 Tempra Tantrum (Tempranillo Blends)

Well, since we haven’t done a review in 3 months, we decided to give you a 3-fer (or is that 3-for?). I can’t believe we’re opening 3 bottles of wine for the 2 of us on a Sunday evening, but hey…, it’s all for the cause.

Here are the facts:

2008 Tempra Tantrum Tempranillo/Grenache
Variety: 60% Tempranillo, 40% Grenache

2008 Tempra Tantrum Tempranillo/Shiraz
Variety: 60% Tempranillo, 40% Shiraz

2008 Tempra Tantrum Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: 60% Tempranillo, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Tierra de Castilla, Spain
Aging: Micro-oxygenation
Winemaker: Rocío Osborne


My take
Tempranillo/Grenache

I would describe the nose on this as pinkish-purple. The taste and feel - I’m having a hard time describing the taste; the feel is easier. It’s a bit juicy, but not chewy. It has a round, full flavor up front with a hint of spice in the middle, and a moderately long finish (not short, but not long either). However, there’s not a lot of complexity in this wine. (Of course, for the price point, complexity isn’t something I’d expect.) It’s a bit dry as well.

This wine was fine as a sipping wine and might accompany food just fine, but in my opinion, it does not go well with grilled pork that has a southwestern flavor to it. Once I introduced the grilled pork to the picture, the wine turned purple and ashy.

Now, on to the...

Tempranillo/Shiraz

The nose on this is reddish; it brings strawberry to mind. The taste – a bit on the alcoholy side. Without food, it’s a bit chewy at first, then it falls flat. It’s short and feels like there’s no middle to it. This strikes me as new world in style – big and fruity. I just wish there were more going on.

The southwestern grilled pork we had for dinner actually made this wine fuller and extended the life of it in my mouth. Without food, this was my least favorite of the three. With the pork, this was my favorite. Just goes to show you how your experience of a wine can change given circumstances!

Tempranillo/Cab Sauv

The nose on this smells purple-black and a little green. It tastes much the same – rather dark purple and it definitely has some of that musty dampness to it that I love (that’s what I smell as green). This is the driest of all three, but not in a suck-your-mouth-dry-I-desperately-need-a-drink-of-water kind of way.

Again, after introducing the southwestern grilled pork, this wine turns ashy and unpleasant. Without the pork, this was by far my favorite. With the pork, it’s not the wine I’m reaching for.

If you want more info on the wine, vineyard, etc., check out their website at www.tempratantrum.com. They also make a Tempranillo/Merlot blend that I didn't pick up because I figured 3 was enough. :)

Price Point: Between $7 and $10 per bottle.

2008 Carmen Carmenere

The facts:

2008 Carmen Carmenere
Region: Rapel Valley, Chile
Variety: 85% Carmenere, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Aging: Taken from www.carmen.com, "The bunches were crushed and cold macerated for 10 days at 3ºC to obtain colour and fruitiness. Alcoholic fermentation was made in stainless steel tanks between 26-28ºC. Malolactic fermentation occurred naturally in stainless steel tanks. 30% of the wine was aged in French and American oak barrels for a period of 6 months."

My take:

This wine had a red-black nose to me. I definitely got a sense of black pepper upon the first sniff or two. After opening up a bit, that black pepper transformed a bit to more of a green bell pepper.

Though I know we said we wouldn’t describe wine this way, it quite honestly made me think of strawberries, green bell pepper, and black pepper. It’s definitely on the spicy side, but not overbearingly so.

The texture was ever so slightly chewy and slightly dry. I’d call it full-bodied.

When all is said and done, I don’t really have too much to say about this wine. It isn’t great, but it isn’t bad either. We drank it before, during, and after having a steak dinner and it held up to marinated, grilled rib eye. But for me, that green pepper flavor didn’t seem to pair well with the steak. I liked the wine better without food. That being said, it’s not velvety enough for my tastes and I get no sense of the brown that I tend to prefer, so it’s not something I’d purchase again.

Price point: $12-$13

2007 Canneto Rosso di Montepulciano - Reviewed by Kerri

The facts:

2007 Canneto Rosso di Montepulciano
Region: Montepulciano, Italy
Variety: 90% Sangiovese grosso, 10% Canaiolo nero, Mammolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot
Aging: 18 months in French oak




My take:

This one smells pinkish purple. I hate to say it, but upon swirling and taking a sniff, it brings to mind strawberries. Seriously.

This is an odd wine. It took a while and several tastes to really figure out what to say about it. First, I’ll say it’s a rather simple wine that moves through the flavor profile quickly. When a bit cold from the wine fridge, it's light, both in taste and feel, up front. After letting it open up some, it's a little chewier in texture and a bit more intense on flavor. That being said, you get most of the flavor in the middle and on the finish. Here’s the thing.... It’s jammy at the end. And I mean grape jelly jammy. It’s a strange finish.

For me, the wine is nothing special, but it’s not bad either. I preferred it earlier, when it was a bit on the cold side. Now that it's had some time to open up, it's a bit too purpley and chewy for my taste. Originally I wrote that I think it makes a good sipping wine. It does not, however, go well with spicy red sauce! After eating pasta for dinner, I had to cleanse my palette to enjoy this wine. Trying it immediately after the red sauce was not good – a bit dank and astringent all at the same time.

So all in all, I’d say this one is medium bodied, pink to purple with a bit of earthiness to it (that’s the sweet dankness), rather simple, and slightly dry.

We got this wine through wine club and after going through the swirl, sniff, taste routine and typing up my notes, I read the tasting notes from wine club. They say it’s "earthy, flamboyant, juicy, and highly scented." I don’t know if I’d go as far as flamboyant, but other than that, their tasting notes seem spot on to me.

Price point:
$12 - $14