2012 Campo Viejo Garnacha

This little wine showed up with full latitude and longitude coordinates on it. Someone asked if this referred to the winery or the vineyard, but the satellite view indicates both: N: 42°28'48" W: 02°29'08". (My first search used east longitude by accident, pointing to an area in the extreme southeast of France, leading to a lot of confusion.)

I've sampled many Campo Viejo wines over the years, and the orange and red waiter's corkscrew with their name is still my favorite. Something about the color and the chrome makes it look like a 50s hot rod.

I enjoyed this wine on a quiet Sunday afternoon with a burger topped with red onion marmalade, sautéed mushrooms, and smoked Gouda. In the photo you can see the red onion, garlic, and Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato that all went together for the tasty lunch.

2012 Campo Viejo Garnacha
Rioja
100% Garnacha
$14, 14% abv.

Dominant aroma of blueberries with following elements of blackberry and red cherry. These continued on the palate with big berry flavors but low tannins and a soft finish. There's probably a great authentic Spanish pairing for this, and I need to study the cuisine more, but I have to admit that it served as a perfect burger wine.

Note: This wine was provided as a sample.

Purple Wine Company Online Tasting

These wines were tasted during a recent online Twitter tasting and video broadcast by the Purple Wine Company, host to a half dozen brands.

The Four Vines wine labels feature a sort of naked lady figure mixed with grape vines. Makes me wonder why J.R.R. Tolkien didn't have some little ent vines in one of the books. During the tasting, I asked if any of these these figures were made into hood ornaments to adorn company tractors, and the answer was no. It could be right up there with the Spirit of Ecstacy on the Rolls-Royce, yet equally tempting for theft.

2011 Four Vines Naked Chardonnay
Santa Barbara, California
100% Chardonnay
Unoaked
$12, 13.9% abv.

Mild and soft, round body with a supple mouthfeel. Dominant aromas of peach and apple with a gentle, barely acidic finish. I found myself craving a little dish of a half dozen steamed clams, topped with garlic and vermouth.

2010 Four Vines Truant Old Vine Zinfandel
California
77% Zinfandel, 13% Syrah, 5% Petite Sirah, 3% Barbera, 2% Sangiovese
$12, 14.5% abv.

Big red with a firm red fruit profile and strong tannins. Great red cherry and spice with a long, tannic finish. Definitely a good pizza wine.

2011 Alto Cinco Garnacha
Paniza, Spain
94% Garnacha, 6% Tempranillo
$15, 14% abv.

The name is a play on the "high five", though a different phrase is used for that gesture in Spanish-speaking countries. This wine has a bright red plum flavor, bold red fruit aromas, and a mild cherry finish. Low tannins and not much influence from oak. Like many Spanish reds, a great match for pork in its most delicious smoked forms.

Note: These wines were provided as samples.

2012 Las Rocas Rosado

I've said it a hundred times, but nothing says summer quite like a good dry rosé. Spain produces a lot of great rosados that are widely available around the country, and you shouldn't have too much trouble finding one. The next time you're at the wine shop, grab a couple of different rosés from around the world, bring them home, and keep them in the fridge. You'll find that they'll pair with just about anything, and can be a lot of fun to take to a BBQ or even to a dinner party as a pleasant aperitif.

This Grenache-based pink wine comes from Bodegas San Alejandro in the Aragón corner of northeastern Spain. The winery is a relative newcomer in Spain, founded in 1962. The DO of Calatayud is named after the nearby city that surrounds an old Moorish castle from the early 8th century. In fact, the name Calatayud came from the Arabic Qalat 'Ayyūb (قلعة أيوب) "the fort of Job". The history of Arabic influence on the Spanish language is fascinating, and the injection of a Semitic language into a Romance language a thousand years ago leads to a can of albóndigas on the shelf of my local grocery store.)

2012 Las Rocas Rosado
Calatayud, Spain
100% Garnacha
$10, 13.5% abv.

The wine opens up quickly with bright strawberry and watermelon aromas and flavors. It has low acidity, a round mouthfeel, and a short finish. A pleasant summer sipper, and I found that it paired quite well with some spicy pork tamales in a rich red enchilada sauce.


Note: This wine was provided as a sample.

Dry Creek Rosé

We're enjoying an unusually cool May here in Memphis, but it's still warm enough to break out the dry rosé. This lineup of Sonoma pinks come from Dry Creek Valley, a region I had the pleasure of visiting in 2009.

A good dry rosé is the perfect pairing for summer, whether you're talking about a picnic or a barbecue or dinner on the deck with friends. Don't know what your host is serving for dinner? Bring a dry rosé. Even if it's not a perfect match for any of the dishes, it will still be fun to sip while everyone is milling around.

When I'm fixing a multi-course meal, I'll generally start with the rosé and then figure out what would work best with that particular wine. Sometimes it's a salad and sometimes it's the seafood course, but I'll often find myself going back to it later in the meal as a refreshing treat.

The first of these is emphatically not a White Zinfandel. It is a dry rosé that happens to be made from Zinfandel grapes, and should not be confused with the super-sweet product that comprises about 10% of all wine sales in the United States.

NV Pedroncelli Dry Rosé of Zinfandel
Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma
100% Zinfandel
$12, 13.9% abv.
1,800 Cases Made

This is a fairly deep red for a rosé, with bright raspberry aromas and flavors. Firm body with a bold and fruity finish. A little on the tart side. Recommended for the lover of California reds that is interested in branching out into lighter wines. This could hold up well with a big antipasto platter with lots of cured meats.

2012 Mauritson Rosé
Rockpile Vineyard, Sonoma County
40% Cabernet Franc, 35% Malbec, 25% Merlot
$19, 13.5% abv.
297 Cases Made

Here's a fascinating mix of Bordeaux varieties, and you don't see a lot of Cabernet Franc in rosé. This one has a softer profile with aromas of strawberry and a touch of watermelon. Mild and refreshing with balanced acidity, and I would suggest pairing this one with seared tuna topped with a mango salsa.

2012 Kokomo Pauline's Vineyard Grenache Rosé
Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma
100% Grenache
13.1% abv.
628 Cases Made

This is the most delicate of the three, and my favorite with a nice pale pink color that looks beautiful in sunlight. While restrained the dominant aroma is of red cherry, but there's a hint of ash and earth in the background. Mild acidity and a light body lead to a gentle finish.

Note: These wines were provided as samples.

Two Oddly-Named Wines

Wrongo Dongo and the Bitch. We're a long way from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, folks.

I've got nothing against funny names, and have even celebrated them at times. Mostly I'm concerned with what's inside the bottle, but I'll give extra credit when a good wine has good design and marketing. I'm going to do a little face-off here with these two wines, opened on the same night. Both are made from Rhône grapes grown outside southern France, they're close in age and price (around $10 each), and both are meant to grab the attention of shoppers with a certain sense of humor.

The Competitors:
The 2007 Wrongo Dongo is from the Jumilla region of Spain, pure Monastrell (Mourvèdre). It's made by Bodegas Hijos de Juan Gil, but I didn't see any info about it on the website. 14% abv.

The 2008 Bitch Grenache is a Grateful Palate import from the Barossa Valley in South Australia. 15.5% abv.

Round 1: Aroma/Taste
Bitch was very hot due to the high alcohol, and what remained was a big strawberry jam profile. It also pours somewhat thin; it looks a little too light to be a full red. A one-ounce tasting pour can look almost like a rosé. After several hours of breathing, some of the heat blows off and you get this wine with a light beginning, big fruity middle, and a brash, heavily tannic and slightly bitter finish. Something of an odd experience.

Wrongo Dongo was much more in line with a traditional Spanish table wine. Lighter body overall with far better balance and restrained finish. Interesting, earthy aromas including tar, funky black peppercorns, a bit of the barnyard, and black cherry notes in the background. (This may sound repulsive to wine newcomers, but it was a nice surprise to find an Old World profile like this packaged as a novelty for the American market.) It should also be noted that this wine was good right after opening as well as hours later.

Winner: Wrongo Dongo

Round 2: Name
I don't use the word bitch often, and when I do, it's as a gender-neutral verb equivalent to the Yiddish kvetch. However, that name combined with the pink design has made this a popular gag gift for women to give amongst themselves and take to girls-night-out parties. How it didn't get a Sex and the City tie-in I'll never know. In fact, why don't they stock this alongside the wine coolers, Franzia boxes, and White Zinfandel? (Just kidding, ladies.) I was always curious to try it, but never felt like actually buying it. Would it send a signal that I'm mad at women, or is there a prison connotation? Would I have to buy Scotch, Jägermeister, and Everclear to compensate, like when a guy is sent to the store by a woman to purchase certain items and tries to hide them under a six pack of beer and a few cans of Wolf Brand Chili?

Wrongo Dongo is a weird one. Supposedly it's a Massachusetts euphemism for being dead wrong. Either that or someone is an Oingo Boingo fan but couldn't secure the licensing rights. The name is certainly unusual, but it doesn't have anything to do with Spain, wine, nor is it a common enough phrase to catch customers' attention. Compare this oddity to the more appropriate Jumilla export Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

Winner: Bitch, by default

Round 3: Design
Both are fairly modern designs, far beyond the old house and all-caps of traditional French wine labels. I admit the Wrongo Dongo label is creative, but I'm not fond of that style, and the eyes make it slightly creepy. Keeping mascots' eyes from looking scary is hard work, such as with the Pillsbury Doughboy or in early episodes of The Simpsons, when a character viewed ¾ from behind would appear to have hollow eye sockets. The minimalist sanserif font is nice, but like the name, I think it's too weird to accomplish much.

The Bitch is, however, beautifully designed. Simple yet elegant layout, fun yet subtle use of hearts, and a curious shade of salmon. Best thing: that's a great bit of custom script work on the name. It would have been much easier to just use one of the millions of generic script fonts out there, and almost nobody would have cared. But they went that extra mile, and I appreciate that. Plus the back text made me burst out in laughter. Instead of a goofy story, the word "bitch" is repeated dozens of times.

Winner: Bitch

* * *

So Bitch wins on style, but Wrongo Dongo wins on substance. If you could switch the labels on the bottles you'd have one fantastic wine and one real dog. As a former graphic designer, I pay perhaps too much attention to packaging. I try not to let it influence my purchasing decisions, but we're all human and successful advertising plays into those desires. It's why I enjoy blind tastings, or getting random bottles to try--it forces me out of my habits and makes me focus on the inner character of the wine. To quote a great philosopher, beauty means less over time, but "you can't fix stupid".

2005 Viña Alarba Old Vines Grenache

2005 Viña Alarba Old Vines Grenache, Calatayud, Spain. Around $8. Cherry aromas and flavors, with some medium tannins and the faint hint of cinnamon. A great everyday red which I served with a Greek pizza.