Garnacha de Fuego

Today's wine is the Garnacha de Fuego, old vines.

Year: 2012
Location: Aragon, Spain
ABV: 14.5%
Price: $8.99 at the liquor store conveniently close to work

My general impression was...yeah, sure. Pretty okay.

I am not much of a red wine drinker, but was looking for something with some spice in it. My first thought was a Spanish wine. I chose this one because of the flames on the bottle and because it translates to Grenache of Fire, which is pretty badass for a bottle of wine. Also it was one of the least expensive imported European wines.

A grenache is a light red wine with a deceptively deep flavor. More can be found here.

So, onto the review...

Step 1: Look at the wine. The wine is very dark purple, to the point of being barely translucent. It's a nice color, actually. I have a blouse the same color. No obvious sediment.

Step 2: Swirl the wine, note the viscosity. Fairly viscous. A thin, clear film clings to the glass after swirling.

Step 3: Sniff the wine. From a few inches away, this wine smells earthy. Closer, there are nice notes of cherries and dark fruit. It smells sweeter than I anticipated, having the assumption that red wine is bitter.

Step 4: Taste the damned wine already. First impression: dry. This is a wine with a bite to it, but a pleasant, spicy bite. The dryness is cut by a dark, rich flavor. There is a pleasant after-taste that leaves a subtle sweetness without being saccharine. As far as red wine goes, this is better than I hoped for.

Step 5: Drink a bunch more. This is a sipping wine. Due to the dryness, when I tried to drink it faster, it was gross. The dryness left a gritty feeling on my tongue that made me want to brush my teeth. However, due to the relatively high alcohol content, you do not need to drink this wine fast to feel it.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this wine. I strongly suggest eating something with it. It is not a great wine to just drink, because booze. I paired it with diablo pasta and it was great. I paired it with cheese curls and it was terrible. This wine goes poorly with junk food, but good with spicy food. I did not try it with spicy junk food, but I imagine it would be okay. Honestly, if you do not like red wines, you will not like this wine. If you do like red wines, this one is pretty good when you want something dry and spicy. Also, it will get you drunk.

Do you have a favorite (or least favorite) wine? Something you would like reviewed? Need a selection for a special meal? Let me know in the comments below!