Spain is clearly one of the most exciting wine producing regions of the world right now – it has a knack for producing world-class wines that come to us at prices that are easy on the wallet and that are – quite frankly – making many other producers in the world scratching their heads, trying to figure out how to compete.

Even though I’ve come to love and embrace certain spanish grapes like Tempranillo and Verdejo, Spain also does a great job with many bordoreaux grapes as well.

2004 Aurelio Cabestrero los800 – W.E.P. Rating – 80%

Technical Data:

• Winery: Bodegas Los 800
• Grapes: 82% Garnacha, 18% Carinena, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah
• Region: Priorat D.O.
• Aged in 6-months in French and American Oak
• Maceration of 24days at temps between 26-28c
• Vineyards – 800 meters above sea level
• Price: $20

Nose: Blueberry, cherry, star wars action figure plastic, and sidewalk chalk. white pepper, bell pepper and some burnt asparagus tips.

Taste: Sour cherries, rhubarb, brussel sprouts, bacon smoke, sawdust, grapefruit pulp with straps of leather belting down the back of my palate. The finish becomes a bit too disjointed for me and doesn’t have the “hang-time” that I enjoy.

2006 Prima – W.E.P. Rating – 100%

Technical Data:

• Winery: Bodegas y Vinedos Maurodos
• Grapes: 90% Tinta de Toro, 10% Garnacha
• Region: Toro
• Vine ages 5-25yrs old
• Age for 12 months in 2nd and 3rd fill French and American Oak
• Price: $15

Nose: Leather, plums, blueberry, black cherry, some pie crust and a slight hint of pomegranate.

Taste: Some medicine cabinent action – halls cough drops, with black fruits and blueberry-laden leather pelts. Good acid makes this a very food-friendly red table wine that’d be a no-brainer for any tomato-sauce-based dish. Good, clean finish that lingers quite nicely some black licorice, pepper hints. This wine mellows out a lot if you put the cork back on for another day or two and try it – the vanilla and carmel components come on very strong.

2007 Elias Mora Toro – W.E.P. Rating – 90%

Technical Data:

• Winery: Bodegas Elias Mora
• Grapes: 100% Tinta de Toro
• Region: Toro D.O.
• Age for 6-months with 100% new American Oak
• Harvest: September
• Clarified with egg whites
• Unfiltered
• Price: $15

Nose: Tar bubble, tobacco, dark chocolate, sweaty sock, black plums, white pepper and a hint of corriander.

Taste: Hints of wild game covered in blackberry jam and white pepper – the finish is quite long, the tannins are nice an firm and give way to an overall smooth mouthfeel. This is a great wine for the money – a bit of the old-world style which may turn off some of the new world fruit-bomb lovers.

Bodegas Juan Ramon Lozano is a premium wine producer in Spain which sources its fruit from a few key regions: La Carrasca, La Numancia, El Corral, El Ventorro and Los Andreus. It features some of the more popular spanish grapes such as Granacha, Macabeo, Verdejo and Tempranillo – this wine is Tempranillo-based.

With an alcohol level of only 12.5% – this wine presents itself in a rather old-world, low alcohol fashion which I’m personally a big fan of. 

Nose: Blueberries and blackberries mixed with some vanilla spice, rubarb and faint hints of elderberry blossom. I also pick up hints of black licorice and bubbleyum.

Taste: Good fruit on the front which gets dry across the mid-palate. It finishes with black pepper-dusted plums and cherries. Hints of eucolyptus also linger quite nicely on the finish – this is a pretty well-balanced wine which is drinking rather well at this time – it has had wide-spread availability around the country, so finding a bottle shouldn’t prove too difficult. 

It’s not the best spanish wine I’ve had, but at just under $12, it is breaking into being a value-play.

W.E.P. Rating: 90%