Saturday Night – Independence Day – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

The Vina Albali Rioja was the other wine we were having with the meal. As I wrote earlier I have tried this one a couple of times now and liked it enough that I have five more bottles sitting on the rack.

"Greek Salad... Mark style!"

The nose on the 2001 Vina Albali Gran Reserva was stronger in intensity than the Bordón. There was a dominate smell which had been driving me nuts as it was so familiar but I couldn’t place it. My wonderful and astute wife after nosing the wine said “Maple Syrup” and I laughed as she hit it on the head. Maple syrup was the main aroma to the wine but there was also coffee, licorice, dark cherry and smoke in the background. The balance on this wine was much nicer than the Bordón and velvety soft tannin and fresh acidity round out this medium bodied wine nicely. The main flavour of the Vina Albali was a dark berry with eucalyptus, cocoa and smoke. This wine was great pairing with the beef and potatoes and a decent pairing with the Greek salad.

"Good value for $20"

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 87, Mark - 89, Kathy – 84, Amy – 86, Overall – 86.5

Here is the LCBO information on the wine -

VIÑA ALBALI GRAN RESERVA 2001

Stock Number – 9621750 mL bottle
Volume - 750mL
Price: $ 19.95 (+$.20 Deposit)
Wine, Red Wine,
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : D
Made in: Valdepenas, Spain
By: Bodegas Felix Solis
Release Date: Feb 28, 2009

Description - Selection and patience are the keys to this award-winning Gran Reserva's success. First there's the fruit selection in the vineyard, where only the best Tempranillo grapes are picked. Then with the crush, only the best free-run juice is used to make the final wine. Patience is required for the long ageing process: at least two years in American oak and then a further three-to-six years in bottle before release. The result is a beautifully balanced, soft-textured red that's delicious with a lamb casserole, chorizo sausage or roast chicken.

We wrapped up the evening with a chocolate mousse cake which the Bordón wasn’t a good pairing with and the Vina Albali was at best an OK pairing. Mental note – Rioja and chocolate not a good combo, stick to Cabernet Sauvignon.

The evening went well as my Greek salad craving has been slated, the Rioja was fun to try and we got caught up with Mick and Amy and what they’d been up to recently. They will both be away for the next couple of weeks so the Blog might be a little during that time.

Cheers!

Mark