Wine of the week - a Happy Accident!

This past Wine Wednesday, Jason was working late and I was – shockingly - in the mood for a glass of wine.  I figured since it was a weekday I’d open an inexpensive bottle of wine and knew just the one I wanted. I couldn’t remember the name of the producer but had a mental image of the label.  So, when I went out to our wine “cellar” I searched through the racks until I found the label I was looking for.  It has the right colors, looked just like I remembered. I opened it and decanted it, setting the bottle aside without paying much attention.  I poured a glass, swirled and sniffed, and thought, “Gee, this smells much better than I remember.” Then I took a sip and said, “Damn, this wine is good! I don’t remember it being that good.”  Well, as you’ve probably figured out, I had opened a completely different bottle of wine than the one intended. 

The wine we were drinking was a 2008 Teso la Monja Almirez from Toro, Spain. Made from Tinto de Toro (Tempranillo), this was a big, big wine. It’s silky in texture with concentrated fruit - fresh raspberry and cherry flavors with an added note of minerality. It’s a bright cherry red with spicy fruit, plum and anise on the nose. It had an incredibly creamy mouthfeel and lots of character, with a hint of toast. We loved this wine and, since it was our only bottle, nursed every last drop.

While it wasn’t the wine I had intended to open, I’m glad I made the mistake.  We drank much better than we intended to on a weeknight. Plus, now that we know how great it is, we will be buying a few more bottles of this to keep for a few years.  If you ever come across it, be sure to grab some!