New Vintage

A little over a month ago, I raved about a red wine from Navarra, Spain made with the Garnacha grape, the 2007 Artazuri. Once the staff and I tried it, we bought all we could find in Massachusetts, and it sold out of the store in weeks. This week the rep brought us in the 2008 to taste. It's good but different. It shows more fruit and less spice and weight. Still a good wine and probably even better with burgers and dogs than the 2007. The price is still $12.99 a bottle and you will get more than your moneys worth each time. Perhaps with another six months of time in the bottle, it will develop some more weight and spice. In the meantime, it's a fun wine to bring to someone's barbque.

More Artadi

Artadi, my favorite Rioja producer, also owns a property in Navarra, Spain. There they use the Garnacha grape instead of Tempranillo. Garnacha is one of the most difficult red grapes to work with in the cellar. An expression I learned is "to make good Garnacha, you must sleep with your barrels." Apparently at the end of fermentation there is a narrow time window when the Garnacha must be taken off the lees, sediment. Miss this window and the wine is lacking, hit it, either by luck or skill and you get great tasting wine that is surprisingly pale in color for a red. The predisposition to paleness and the ability to draw the wine from the lees early, makes Garnacha easy to make into Rose.

Artadi's winery in Navarra is Artazu. The 2007 Garnacha is dellicious. At $13.99, it's a steal. Rose-lilac aromas in combination with some spice and earth make this a great wine for grilled meats. Or you can guzzle it. Or serve with a meaty paella. It was good with the cheeses too. Anyway, once you try a good Garnacha, you will probably look for them again and again. I keep looking.

PS. They also make a Reserva for about $40 a bottle, it is on my homework list as soon as it comes in.