Three Cheers for Four Vines

August 22nd, 2013 by The WineLady

A surprising addition to our wine tasting was a Spanish red called Alto-Cinco 2011, which is a collaboration between Purple Wine Company (which owns Four Vines), and Bodega Paniza in Spain. There is so much history and romance to this winery that I don’t know where to start, except to admit my prejudice right up front: I love Spanish reds. I think Spain stands shoulder to shoulder with any wine region on earth when it comes to producing high-quality, value-priced wines. So don’t expect a totally unbiased review…

Now back to ancient, cobble-stoned streets and visions of kings, queens and warriors… The village of Paniza is located in the province of Aragon, which since the 17th century has been a leader in the production of Garnacha (that’s “Grenache” in the rest of the wine world).

Alto-Cinco (“High-Five” to English speakers) is a blend of Garnacha from high-elevation, old-vine vineyards, with a splash of Tempranillo (Spain’s other world-famous grape). French and American oak barrel aging rounds out the mouthfeel. California winemaker Alex Cose worked with the winemaking team at Bodegas Paniza to create this red that I’d call an “Old World food-friendly but New World fruit-forward” wine. I loved the juicy dark berry flavors framed  by that lovely European acidity and supple tannins.

All three of these wines are priced to be good everyday drinkers (under $12 for the Four Vines, $13 or so for the Alto-Cinco), and I’d be happy to add them to my table. Cheers!

 

Page 2 of 2 | Previous page

  • Share/Bookmark

Posted in Review California wines, Review Chardonnay wine, Review spanish wine, Review zinfandel wine | 3 comments

Previous post:
Next post:

  1. Sean Wallace:

    August 28th, 2014 at

    I loved the Naked Chardonnay from Four Vines. Great write up on them.

  2. Rick:

    September 28th, 2014 at

    Thanks for the writeup. The 2011 Naked Chardonnay sounds absolutely delicious.
    Rick

  3. arun:

    January 6th, 2016 at

    Thanks for nice info.





CAPTCHA Image
*