A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wine - A Tempranillo From Argentina
We have reviewed a lot of Argentine red wines, many of which are kosher. The Marumatok winery has been in the kosher wine business since 2007. It is situated in the major wine producing region of Mendoza. They don't talk about their vineyards, but they do talk about their wines. We have previously reviewed two of their more expensive wines carrying the Tekiah label. Today's wine is a Tempranillo, the signature grape of Spain. I'm not sure that I have previously tasted an Argentine Tempranillo. The companion wine is an Israeli Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Merlot for which I paid over five times the price.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Emuna Tempranillo Mendoza Argentina 2011 13.1 % alcohol about $10.
Let's start by quoting from their web site. "This wine is made with Tempranillo grapes, which are optimum for the making of wines with an exceptional structure and color as a result of the altitude and exceptional climatic conditions under which they grow… Wine - food connection : This is a suitable wine to accompany rice, peppers, stuffed potatoes, varenikes and other vegetable stuffed pasta. Recommendation : Tempranillo combined with Gefilte fish or Turkish rice is a good choice." And now for my review.
At the first sips this wine was too acidic, in fact almost sour; its fruit was very much in the background. The meal consisted of a cheese-less lasagna containing a mixture of whole wheat and spinach noodles, ground beef, salsa, and peas, which brought down the liquid's acidity but not enough. I added Chinese chili sauce and now our Argentine friend displayed some fruit and a low level of tannins. Dessert was praline-filled Bitter-Sweet Swiss chocolate to which the libation responded with not much fruit and some metal. It was round.
My next meal began with Japanese rice crackers. The Tempranillo was rich and provided some chocolate. Its acidity was almost tamed. Then came a packaged Baked Ziti Siciliano that I liberally doused with grated Parmesan cheese. In response our Argentine friend was light with a tinge of chocolate and softly sweet.
The final meal started with homemade lentil soup. The liquid responded with light acidity and light chocolate. Slow cooked beef with coriander and cumin muted this wine. In response to chickpeas the libation responded with acidity and plums. White potatoes rendered Red's acidity out of control. Sweet potatoes improved the situation a bit and I did notice some fruit. Chinese chili sauce on the meat took care of the liquid's excessive acidity but didn't bring much else.
Final verdict. I have no intention of buying this wine again. But if you are going Kosher and your budget is $10 you could do worse, such a foxy Concord.
About the Author
Over the years Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten computer and Internet books, but really prefers drinking fine German wine, along with friends and the right foods. He teaches sundry computer classes at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his global wine website http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about (theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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