At In Vino Veritas I found the Tres Picos Garnacha 2006 and the
Borsao Red Wine 2007 on their shelves and decided to try them. I looked online to look up the winery and found the Borsao website and I found two. Seems that they do not yet have a US focused site, so all I know is that the winery is based in a place called Borja and that the winery is spread over 2,500 hectares (over 6177 acres). I actually have no assurance that the data there is up to date, but oh well. I know just how hard it is to keep a website updated, even though it should be a simple once a year (at least) event.The label has the stamp of approval from Jorge Ordonez, one of the largest importers of Spanish wines to the US. His company’s name is Tempranillo Inc. and I have searched high and low for a website of theirs. If you have found one please feel free to show me that I did not search hard enough. I guess I could look on the business card of one of the reps I have met that work there, but I feel that must be cheating.
The first wine tasted was the Borsao Red Wine 2007. It is the lower line than the Tres Picos and should be drunk young. I found it to be a little sharp for my tastes. The wine is 75% Garnacha (Grenache) and 25% Tempranillo, although I felt it definitely sided over with the bright Tempranillo flavors rather than the spice and pepper I expect from Garnacha. The nose was very bright, promising a lot of acidity with plenty of vanilla thrown in. The taste was close to sour with a blast of fruit up front and then cleaned out by a shot of acidity. For me, this wine was slightly overbalanced, but I only paid $8.99 for it so I am not too upset. There were 15,000 cases imported, so there should be no problem finding this wine.The other wine I had, the Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha 2006 is another extremely approachable wine. When I tasted the 2004 I found it peppery, nicely balanced and very enjoyable to drink. The 2006 was just as balanced with rich roasted meats in the nose and mouth. It is 100% Garnacha, started its fermentation in steel tanks and then spends 3-4 months in new oak. One note that stuck me was smoked bacon, all over the place. There was also some nice cracked pepper and blackberry. I would definitely suggest finding this wine, especially for $17!
