Nice less than $10 Tempranillo on WTSO right now

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

This is the current (as of 10:30 am, PDT, 3/15/11) offering at wtso.com:

Vinedos de Villaester
Taurus
Toro
Tempranillo 2005
Free Shipping on 4 or more

I think this is a great buy if you like Spanish Tempranillos (which are my favorites). Most decent tempranillos in my experience need a decent amount of time to age, and this already has six years.

Again, as with most good termprnillos, it's going to need some time to breathe; don't pop and pour or you'll probably be disappointed. I would give it three or four hours in a decanter and overnight would certainly not be unreasonable.

BTW - here's the CT page on it: 2005 Vinedos de Villaester Toro Taurus

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

good one! I'm in for 8, thanks for posting.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Since it has Taurus in the name and I am a Taurus, I will go for it

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

And the offer is now over.

Congrats to the two of you who jumped in. If you like tempranillos, you should find these to be nice reliable drinkers after giving them enough time to open up. If they still seem pretty tight after a decent amount of breathing, you might stick them away for some more aging.

I'm sure this will never have that deep combination of velvety smoothness and fruit that the best tempranillos attain. But they should be quite nice every day drinkers. For myself, when I just feel like opening a "daily drinker" red, tempranillos such as this are often where I'm most drawn.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Then they followed it up a few hours with this 2006 Bodega Luzdivina Amigo Bierzo Viñademoya for $10.99. I've picked that one up several times before, and it's a fine ~$10 dry Spanish red as well.

Normally that's close to an autobuy for me, but coming so quickly after the Taurus (of which I bought a case), I let it pass. If they had run this about one week later I suppose I would have succumbed to that one as well. Not good planning on their part, IMHO.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Then they followed it up a few hours with this 2006 Bodega Luzdivina Amigo Bierzo Viñademoya for $10.99. I've picked that one up several times before, and it's a fine ~$10 dry Spanish red as well.

Normally that's close to an autobuy for me, but coming so quickly after the Taurus (of which I bought a case), I let it pass. If they had run this about one week later I suppose I would have succumbed to that one as well. Not good planning on their part, IMHO.

Maybe they were trying to appease those who missed out after we bought all the Tempranillo... ...

There are some great values from Spain.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

There are some great values from Spain.

Portugal, too, and Italy.

My experience has certainly been that it's hard to go wrong on a decently made Spanish tempranillo that's at least six years old. And even if you don't always concur with Steven Tanzer or Wine Spectators, they are useful for at least filtering out stuff that is junk. So if it gets decent comments from some reputable sources, and I can get it for about $12 or less with shipping, I find that I'm seldom disappointed. And it's almost always significantly better than at least most of what I've taken home from TJs for less than $10 per bottle.

In fact, I've now find that most of the touted reds I get in the <$10 range leave me asking myself "Is that all this is?"

*******

So right now I figure that for the same price I can get some incredibly dense Iberian and Italian reds that, with proper aging and breathing, will almost always knock the socks off what is available domestically for the same price range (and will outpace almost any $25 red that has "Napa Valley" label appellation).

And I have BigFrank to thank for expanding my horizons. If it hadn't been for words from him I never would have tried Spanish and Italian reds.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Would you believe I just got it. Will open one up tonight

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Would you believe I just got it. Will open one up tonight

mine came today too. Tonight is japanese food, though, so gonna be sake I'll try to open one of these this weekend to check it out.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Would you believe I just got it. Will open one up tonight

Yeah - you're close the WSO base of operations in Jersey. I asked them to hold my shipment until the first week of April because I'm going to be on the road.

Give us a good tasting report, Frank!!! I'm anxious to know what you think of it right out of the bottle versus after having some time in a decanter.

Also I'm curious to know if you think it could use more time.

******

There's another attractive offering right now -

Bodegas Y Vinedos
Recoletas
Vendimia
Seleccionada 2004

$15.99 a bottle for a Jay Miller 90-point Ribera del Duero blend that ostensibly retails for $50. It hits most of the points that often intrigue me, but unfortunately there isn't any commentary up on this one at CellarTracker. I usually like to see at least a few comments at CT before I pull the trigger, even though I do take CT comments skeptically unless it's a commenter I recognize. And the last time I decided to try a WTSO offering under those conditions I wound up with one of the best buys I've ever made.

But I just popped for a case of the Taurus and I got about eight bottles of sangio from winewoot a couple of weeks ago. So I've got plenty of red and I've spent plenty of money on wine recently. Plus this isn't the first time this offering has appeared at wtso. So I've just convinced myself to pass.

*****

Drink up, Frank, and if you don't like it you can only blame yourself. 'Cause if it weren't for you I wouldn't have started buying Spanish and Italian red wines, and then I wouldn't have started this thread.

So pat yourself on the back if you like it, and kick yourself in the ass if you don't.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Drink up, Frank, and if you don't like it you can only blame yourself. 'Cause if it weren't for you I wouldn't have started buying Spanish and Italian red wines, and then I wouldn't have started this thread.

So pat yourself on the back if you like it, and kick yourself in the ass if you don't.

I would say 80% of my wines are Italiann 10% from the US and the rest Europe. After going to Italy well lests just say I found home.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Wine was well worth it, Looking forward to getting this again

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Wine was well worth it, Looking forward to getting this again

Great!

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Wine was well worth it, Looking forward to getting this again

Thanks for the report. Did you decant or pop-and-pour?

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Thanks for the report. Did you decant or pop-and-pour?

We pop N POURED but this was bottle #4 or 5 that we opened so it all tasted good by then. I think we made it to 8 bottles not to sure if we all made it to 8