Quick Taste: Campo Viejo Reserva Tempranillo Rioja

by Rob Bralow, Wine Post Editor

I always like it when I find a cheap, cheerful, and widely available wine that I enjoy. That is what I found in the 2005 Campo Viejo Reserva Tempranillo. Before I get too lovely-dovey on the wine, let me go back to harping on an old pet peeve: the website needs some help. In the age of technology and information, every winery should have a website. Ok, good, we got that part right.

But then there is the information for me, the consumer (and pseudo journalist). I want to see how much wine is made there. I want to know the people that make it. And I want it expressed to me in a friendly, interesting fashion.

I dug around and found a second (and MUCH BETTER) website for Campo Viejo. They seem to have a separate UK Website for the winery. That puts us Americans in our place. I would say it is strange that a company has multiple websites, but it really is not. However, to have such vastly different branding on the two different sites is somewhat strange.

But back to the wine. I found the nose to be smooth cherry, raspberry and slightly rustic, showing off the Rioja style. The taste was smooth, with scratchy raspberry, blackberry, and licorice. There was a lot missing from this wine that I would look for to make it "interesting," but overall the wine is exactly as billed for $14.

Terracita Tempranillo

Those are two names that are fun to put next to each other. Terracita Tempranillo. It just rolls off the tongue. What is better is that it rolls easily into your hand too. I received this wine as a sample from Pasternak Imports and was extremely happy that I did. I might have found myself a new house wine.

Coming from Spain, this wine is labeled as Tierra de Castilla la Mancha, giving it a very general sense of place. The winery is Bodega (means winery) Roqueta.

This wine, the Terracita Tempranillo 2008, is an easy drinking and fresh red wine. So easy to drink that I could have easily finished the entire bottle if I did not have someone else there drinking it with me. There were really lovely cherry and raspberry fruits throughout this wine. There was a healthy dose of acidity that kept the taste fresh and light.

This wine retails for about $9, making it easy to pick up a case for everyday drinking, to use as a gift or to bring over to a friend’s place for dinner.

The view from Roa

A few quick notes from Spain:

I have always found that the wines from any country in the world taste better when you drink them on their home soil. So far, Spain has been no exception. The wines I have had (Rose, Tempranillo (Crianza), Garnacha) have all be delicious and perfect for the heat and the cooler evenings.

The heat is HOT, but luckily dry. Not like that sweltering humidity in New York City...

Check out some of the photos I have taken:

The Countess of Montecillo

There are few things I enjoy more than sitting around and chatting about wine with a winemaker, especially a winemaker that has been making wine for over 30 years. There is such a sense of ease and enjoyment that comes from a wine where the winemaker knows that she does not need to over work it.

I had the privilege of attending a lunch with Maria Martinez-Sierra, who has been making wine for the past 34 years. She has been working with the Osbourne family, the owners of Bodegas Montecillo in Rioja, since they started making wine. The Osbourne’s took over ownership of Bodegas Montecillo in 1973, at first producing only sherry and brandy. The winery itself was founded in 1874 and is the third oldest winery in Rioja, or so it claims.

Maria was one of the first women winemakers in Rioja as well as one of the first winemakers to make her wines with 100% Tempranillo. In fact, Maria has a particular devotion to indigenous Spanish varietals, such as Tempranillo and Albariño. With the rise of demand for Tempranillo from Rioja, it seems that Maria is a visionary, with more surprises on the way. During the tasting Maria brought out a tank sample of a 2008 Albariño from Rias Baixas and it was beautiful. The wine was fresh, crisp and so sippable that I could probably have finished off the bottle by myself – luckily there were others that were there to hold me back. This is the winery’s first vintage of white wine and I am glad that they let Maria talk them into it.

Those of us that attended the tasting were able to sit around very informally and just chat with Maria about her philosophies. Her views on vintages were really interesting to me. When asked about how she decides to make her wine into a Crianza, a Reserva, or a Gran Reserva she said, “When the vintage is not up to the standards, I won’t make the wine.” By this she meant that the grapes needed to be a certain standard in order to last under the aging treatments that come with a Reserva and Gran Reserva, a very respectable philosophy of winemaking. Looking at past vintages, Maria did not make a Gran Reserva in 2002 and did not make even a Reserva in 2004.

When asked about her production volume, she noted that it changes frequently. “When the grapes are of a good quality and the conditions are right, I will make as many bottles of wine as the Osbourne family pockets can make.”

I thought that was a damn good answer.

When we tasted the red wines they were very enjoyable. My favorite of the three was the Gran Reserva 2001. It was beautifully young and juicy with red fruit on the nose and got more floral the longer it would sit in the glass. The taste was smooth and silky with cherries and blackberries on the taste. I think what I most enjoyed was that the oak used did not overwhelm the fruit. There was a great balance. And at the price of $25 a bottle, it’s a great deal!

Big Bad Bodegas Borsao

In my search for new and more interesting wines I found these on the shelf of my local wine shop. A friend of mine gave be a taste of the Borsao Tres Picos 2004 and I was impressed enough to go find more.

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!