San Pedro Apostol 2012 “Campellares” Alta Rioja Tempranillo ($12.99)
A single-varietal, 100% Tempranillo, this wine is dark reddish purple with a clear violet edge. Juicy red-plum and black-cherry aromas are joined by an earthy back note of leather. Flavors mirror the nose, bright and clean. Mouth-watering acidity surrounds fresh but subtle cherry-berry fruit with an earthy hint of leather; palate-cleansing and food-friendly, 13.5% alcohol stays in the background. Tart cherries linger in a long finish. U.S. importer: Grapes of Spain Inc., Lorton, Va.; Selected by Aurelio Cabestrero. (April 2, 2016)
FOOD MATCH: Umami flavors kick up an intense mushroom risotto with fresh crimini and dried porcini, making it a serious match with this red wine. On the second night, another intensely flavered dish works with the red wine from a different perspective, dressing farfalle pasta with a spring pesto of asparagus and cilantro with garlic, Grana Padano cheese and a little butter
WHEN TO DRINK: The best Tempranillo-based wines of Rioja are capable of considerable evolution with time in a temperature-controlled cellar. In these lower price ranges, though, it probably makes more sense to drink them up within a few years, while they are as fresh and delicious as this.
VALUE: This fine red is an excellent value in the lower teens, and I’d buy it again at this price. That said, it’s an even better value if you can find it closer to the $10 median price reported on Wine-Searcher.com.
WEB LINK
Bodegas San Pedro Apostol’s colorful website is primarily in Spanish, but you’ll find a downloadable fact sheet on the Campellares Rioja here. Importer Grapes of Spain offers a similar fact sheet at this link.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Wine-Searcher.com shows only limited vendors for San Pedro Apostol 2012 “Campellares” Alta Rioja Tempranillo.
To find other wines and producers from Rioja Alta, along with a brief discussion of the region and its wines, check this page on Wine-Searcher.com.
To find other U.S. vendors, look up your state’s distributors, listed on this page at importer Grapes of Spain.
Bodegas Forcada 2010 “Flor de Baco” Crianza Rioja ($11.99)
A typical Rioja blend of Tempranillo (85%), Garnacha (10%), and Graciano (5%), this wine is dark purple in the glass, shading to garnet, transparent at the edge. There’s a lot of sweet, vanilla oak in the nose, as you might expect from a “Crianza,” a Rioja designation for wines aged at least 12 months in oak and 12 more in bottles. Lurking behind the oak, though, there’s subtle and complex red fruit, cherries and red berries, that carry over onto the palate with good, food-friendly acidity, 14% alcohol, and soft tannins. U.S. importer: Catwine USA LLC, Nicholasville, Ky. (April 12, 2016)
FOOD MATCH: We tried meatless matches using the intriguing, Beyond Meat “beefless crumbles,” a surprisingly convincing plant-based meat substitute, to make spaghetti with meat sauce on the first night and mushroom-and-“meat” sauce on the second.
WHEN TO DRINK: Not a long ager, but given that keeping the leftover wine overnight seemed to bring the fruit and oak into better balance, it might benefit from two or three years under good cellar conditions.
VALUE: This fine red is an excellent value in the lower teens, and I’d buy it again at this price. That said, it’s an even better value if you can find it closer to the $10 median price reported on Wine-Searcher.com.
WEB LINK
Bodegas Forcada offers its website in Spanish and English. Click the UK flag at upper right for English-language pages. Click here for information on the Rioja Crianza, or go to this page to download a more detailed English-language file.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Again, Wine-Searcher.com shows only limited availability for Bodegas Forcada 2010 “Flor de Baco” Crianza Rioja.
For a wide selection of other Riojas in a broad range of prices, visit this Wine-Searcher.com page.
