Today on #winechat the theme was “Value wines, $10 or less” and it was hosted by Dezel Quillen (@myvinespot).
I decided to see what I could find for around ten dollars but was also a little out of the ordinary. If you aren’t looking for Two Buck Chuck or similar, where do you go. A great place to find value wines is Chile, Spain and Portugal. Since Chilean wines are so easy to find I went for Spain. I found a 2010 Vina Borgia, a 100% Garnacha (Grenache) from the Aragon region of Spain ($9.50). Aragon is in North Eastern Spain, bordering on France and is a very large area with many different climates.
The wine was a dark ruby and the nose had dark fruit, smoke and vanilla. There was dark fruit flavor with a little vanilla and maybe some tobacco. There were moderate tannins and that was balanced by the acid. Maybe a little heat from the 14% abv. Overall, though, a nice wine for under $10.
The second wine I chose was a 2009 Hoya De Cadenas Rosado, 100% Bobal ($9.99). The estate is located at an altitude of 2500 feet about 60 miles west of Valencia. This gives the area a Mediterranean climate. Now, what is Bobal? I had never heard of this grape before. Bobal is the third most widely planted grape in Spain, behind Airén and Tempranillo. It is a very hardy vine that grows primarily in the Utiel-Requena DO west of Valencia. It is apparently not real highly regarded, even in Spain, but that may change as the winemakers work to make better wines. This should be interesting.
The color is the darkest rose I have ever seen, a cranberry color. The nose was rather light with just a little berry fruit. The flavors were raspberry and other berries, very nice. A little bit of complexity with moderate tannins and good acidity. I’ll definitely buy more of this for everyday summer sipping.
