Michael Perlis Visits Spain via All Corked Up



All Corked Up hosts themed wine tastings most Wednesday nights, at a cost of $20 per person. I try to get to these tastings as often as possible, often picking ones that get me out of my comfort zone of Zinfandels and California Rhones.

I had the pleasure of attending a tasting of Spanish wines there recently.

I have always found Spanish wines to provide great bang for the buck. Prices tend to be reasonable, flavors are terrific, and the varietals are typically among my favorite: Garnacha [grenache], Monastrell [mourvedre] and, of course Tempranillo.

This lineup was no exception, with all of the wines below providing incredible values:

2007 Borsao Garnacha & Tempranillo ~ Campo De Borja
2007 Protocolo Red Wine ~ Tierra De Castilla
2007 Almira Grenache & Syrah ~ Campo De Borja
2005 Vina Berri Tempranillo Garnacha Mazuelo ~ Rioja
2006 Vina Herminia Tempranillo ~ Rioja
2008 Mesta Tempranillo ~ Ucles
2006 Valcanto Monastrell (Mourvedre) ~ Almansa
2007 Tres Pico Garnacha ~ Campo De Borja

I’ve already posted about my inability to provide eloquent tasting notes. And unfortunately I did not take notes while tasting this time. [I gotta remember to do this!] While all of the above were tasty, the ones that really stood out for me were the Borsao, the Protocolo, and especially the Valcanto.

As always, Jennifer was an incredible hostess and Vic ran the tasting with his usual professional aplomb.

Also, it was great to see DiMaggio Washington at the tasting. DiMaggio is a true wine pioneer in the Santa Clarita Valley, having had the first wine bar in town. He is a certified sommelier and I consider him to be one of my early mentors. In fact, I think it might have been DiMaggio who introduced me to the above mentioned Borsao, several years ago. Check him out now at http://worldwineeducation.com/.

Michael Perlis provides outsourced controller services to businesses that do not need a full-time controller. He balances this with his interest in wine: reading and writing about it and, of course, drinking it. He is still trying to figure out how to combine these two pursuits. Feel free to contact him about either at mcpfinancial@aol.com or michaelthezinfan@aol.com.