R.E. 3145-Z
Cuvee Harmonie
Petit Verdot, Tannat
Aragon, Spain
2006
14%
$8.00 -- Costco, Austin, TX
Color: Deep red with purple tinge
Nose: Sour fruit, compost, pool float
Body: Medium
Front: Cassis
Middle: Cilantro, chocolate covered raspberry
Back: A smidgen of orange peel, fine tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Plastic cork
This is a mysterious wine. What house made it? Where exactly in Aragon does it come from? Why doesn't it have any official denominations? The link in above is to the blog of a person whom I think is the winemaker; his Frenchness makes some sense of the blend. But the rest is a mystery I hope my three, or perhaps four, readers will illuminate for me because I am lazy.
The wine is tasty. Despite the acrobatics of combining two grapes that Americans rarely drink, or want to know that they're drinking if they do, the terroir kind of takes the limelight anyway. It's a Spanish red: gritty, tangy fruity, leathery. I confess it's got a bit of Madiran goin' on, probably an effect of the Tannat; it occurs to me that if you like Zinfandel, you might enjoy this as an entry to European wines. There appears to be, by the way, a teeny bit of residual carbonation in it...look for little tiny bubbles at the edge...
