Recommendation: A GREAT value and a Rioja you should buy.
Winery/Producer: Zugober Belezos; Lapuebla de Labarca, Spain.
Grape Variety: Rioja Blend: 85% Tempranillo and 15% Gracino.
Geographic Region, Appellation: Rioja, Spain.
Vintage: 2011
Price: $13.88 (reduced from $19.00)
Purchased From: Woodland Hills Wine Company, Woodland Hills, California.
Paired With: Baked chicken in tomato sauce, pasta and greek salad.
Tasting:
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He said: Opened 30-minutes before drinking. Inky black color with a purple rim. Ripe blackberry aroma with hints of wet leather. VERY Dry and mouth-puckering with spicy cherry and plum flavors that create a powerful taste with the smooth tannins. All this continues on and on through a very long finish that has acidity to match the intense flavors. This is juicy, bold Rioja that starts slowly but goes to an intense taste. Excellent with the red sauce in the dinner but equally good sipping alone after the dinner. This Rioja gets two thumbs up from me and it’s a wine I’ll buy again. I can easily put it into our Quality wine at a Bargain price category and recommend it as a GREAT value and a Rioja you should buy. This was not a shrinking violet wine, and it’s so intense that you wouldn’t want it as a regular diet, however it’s an outstanding powerful Rioja.
She said: Very dark inky red color, opaque, lots of thin, well spaced well moving legs.
The dark berry aroma is substantial but the flavor is so big it knocked my sox off. The mouth experience is out of this world with a huge intense flavor that lasts into the long finish and beyond. The wine is dry and has modest tannins that compliment the flavor with all its nuances and depth. I loved it with all parts of the diner and would buy it again in a flash and try it with even more dinners. A bargain wine at under $14, I hope the Woodland Hills Wine Store has plenty when I get back there this week!
Alcohol: 14%
UPC Code: 8 79112 00008 2
Imported by: Casa Ventura Imports; Bellingham, Washington.
Photo from Zugober Belezos.