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!
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.
