Vino de Espana

So cheap, good wine is like a woman who loves football. They're hard to find, and typically they end up disappointing you. But occasionally, you find a good one that sticks around. Wait, am I talking about wine or women now? I've even confused myself.

Protocolo White and Red. Both quite good. Both cheap. They're Spanish blends, and can be had for around 6-7 bucks a bottle. The red is a little less spicy than a tempranillo, but has a nice amount of body. Texture-wise, it's probably more like a merlot than a cab, but who am I kidding? If you put a blind fold on me, I'd probably say that Franzia blush was Opus One.

I had a party last weekend and both of the Protocolo wines were big hits. Not too controversial, but certainly not boring. Lots of it was consumed. It went well with bruschetta and salmon, although with the quantity that was being poured, we could have served Armor hot dogs and people would have been raving about the excellent pairing.







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OK, it's been a long while, but I'm back. I'm not going to bore you with the details of my absence. I'll just jump right in to the ol' bucket of grapes.

My wine drinking has been pretty basic lately. I've been sipping a lot of cabernet, not that there's anything wrong with that. The Concha Y Toro Diablo Cab is certainly not out of the mainstream, but I really enjoy it for a daily drinker. It's got enough body to hold up against tomato sauce or a nice steak, but it's not too overwhelming to drink on its own. It can be found almost anywhere for less than $10 a bottle, but I usually get it at Costco for 7 bucks.

Last night, I opened a bottle of Cline Cool Climate Syrah. I'm a big syrah fan, so I was expecting something spicy and tannic. I'm not sure if it's the climate or what, but this wine isn't a stereotypical syrah. It's got some very predominant berry flavors. Right off the bat, you're hit with blueberry and sour raspberry. That evolves in to a more subtle fruit taste, but this is definitely one of the more fruit-forward wines I've tasted. While it's not like any other syrah I've tried, I'd still recommend giving it a drink. I paid $15, but I think you could do better.

Intro

Hello. I'm here to talk about wine. Wine, you might say? Do you mean the snobby drink that the elitest folks drink from their fancy-pants stemware while talking about how ignorant I am? Well, sort of. However, nowadays, wine has become increasingly accessible to anyone.

Take, as an example, Casa Solar. This Spanish winery produces a red, Tempranillo, and a white, Viura. They're both complex and delicious, and can be had for less than $6 a bottle. When compared to other budget-minded wines like "Two Buck Chuck", the Casa Solar blows them away. Sure, the Casa Solar is slightly more expensive, but the overwhelming superiority makes it more than worth the additional expense.

If you want to learn more about wine, talk to your local grocer/wine retailer about an informational wine kiosk. They are a great way to learn more about wines without having to embarrass yourself. Here in Milwaukee, there's a great kiosk at the Metro Market on Van Buren. The Wine Kiosk is made by WineConnect, a Minnesota company. It's the best of the Wine Kiosks that I've seen.