decanted

the linda (and the Caps)

There was a time we thought that the only reasonably good wine you could find for under $10 would be of the white variety. Though we're not close to subscribing to Tim's dad's belief that no single bottle should fetch more than a Hamilton, we did recently come across a great deal on a reasonably good red wine. Made from grapes grown in Argentina's fertile province of Mendoza, the 2006 Luigi Bosca Finca la Linda Tempranillo represents much of what we think table wine should be: robust and tannic with a good mix of ripe fruit and spice, all the while not being overly complex. In other words, a table wine should be easy to drink and not make you think a whole lot about doing so. This 100% Tempranillo sipper gulper won't blow your socks off, but it won't blow a hole in your wallet either. On sale for $6.99, it earns a 6.0 out of 10. So if you're like Tim (we know that's not likely) and you're home chewing on some small game, lamenting the reasons why only one of the Washington Capitals was named an All-Star, take our word for it. Reach into your jar filled with change that you started to contribute to when you got your first apartment, grab 28 quarters and pick up a bottle. In just a short while you'll be a happy camper.

not quite ready

We must admit we have not tasted as many Spanish wines as French or American or even Italian wines. But this is what decanted is all about:  sharing new experiences and learning from them. At one of our favorite DC wine stores, Addy Bassin's MacArthur Beverages, we selected the 2003 Aalto Ribera del Duero from Spain's northern plateau. Like most red wines from this region, the Aalto is made from the Tempranillo grape. Due to similarities in taste and structure, many experts once believed that tempranillo was related to one of our favorites, Pinot Noir, only to be discredited by those pesky geneticists. It was because of these similarities that we were very excited to try this example of Tempranillo.

Oftentimes, however, high expectations can lead to greater disappointment. The Aalto was a deep purple-colored wine with a strong smoky nose. What we tasted was a very tightly wound, tannic, toasty wine that got reasonably better with aeration (exposing it to air over time), but never really came out of its shell. Perhaps a few more years would do this wine well, but for $54.99 we gave this wine a disappointing 5.5 out of 10.