<strong>1. &nbsp;<u>Mestizaje 2004</u>: 9&euro;<br /></strong><div><br />{mosimage}This wine is from its own Vino de La Tierra Denomination, called Vino de la Tierra El Terrerazo.&nbsp; The winery is Mustiguillo and this is their entry level wine.&nbsp; They also make two amazing premium wines, Finca Terrerazo at 20&euro; and Quincha Corral, at 40&euro;.&nbsp; This winery really represents the top of the line from the region of Utiel, near Valencia.&nbsp; Many wines for the area are filled with overripe flavors and lack acidity.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;This wine is one of the happy exceptions.<br />The wine is made from a unique blend of Bobal, Tempranillo, Cabernet sauvignon, Garnacha, Merlot, and Syrah.&nbsp; It is a big, fleshy wine with lots of personality.&nbsp; A Fruit bomb, but in a good way!&nbsp; It will definitely benefit from a little more time in bottle, but it makes great drinking now.&nbsp; Make sure you give it lots of aeration before drinking.<br />Bodega: Bodega Mustiguillo<br />El Terrerazo, Valencia<br />Tel: 620 216 227<br /><a href="http://www.bodegas-barreda.com/"><u>www.bodegas-barreda.com</u></a><br />Founded: 1999<br />Barrels:&nbsp; 370<br />Annual production: 90,000 liters <br />Vineyards:&nbsp; 90 hectares <br />Wine: Mestizaje 2004<br />VdT El Terrerazo<br />Bobal (50%) and lots of others!<br />14% alcohol<br />Partially fermented in stainless steel, partially in wood.&nbsp; Temperatures up to 30C.&nbsp; <br />Three months in large wood vats and eight months in small French oak.<br />Filtered but no cold stabilization<br /><div><br />Tasting notes:&nbsp; <br />Visual: Very intense ruby color, very youthful<br />Nose:&nbsp; Black fruit, like blackberry, blueberry, olives and eucalyptus.&nbsp; Some wood, but very subtle. <br />Mouth:&nbsp; Huge, fruity, mouth-filling, dense.&nbsp; Very intense, yet with smooth tannins.&nbsp;&nbsp; Smooth, elegant, with very integrated tannins (meaning they don't leap out at you!) Great balance with good acid <br />Conclusion: Flavor-packed wine, very intense.&nbsp; Very unique wine that will be great with a steak!&nbsp; Not meant for long aging, but will benefit from six months or so in bottle.&nbsp; <br /><div><br /><strong>2.&nbsp; <u>Dido la Universal 2004</u>: 8&euro;<br /></strong><div><br />This wine is from DO Montsant, a new DO that replaced the Falset subzone of DO Tarragona.&nbsp; The wines from this area are known for their Priorat-like fruit, deep and complex, fruit that is backed up by a solid tannic structure.&nbsp; This wine is a great example of this style, especially at this price point.&nbsp; I love this winery; the wine-maker is Sara Perez, one of Spain's most famous flying wine-makers.&nbsp; She is the author of Mas Martinet, one of Priorat's best known wines.&nbsp; Her premium wine from this winery is called Venus, it costs around 20&euro; and is fantastic!&nbsp; <br />The winery does not like to say what is in the blend and it is very difficult to get info, however, the blend seems to include old vine Cari&ntilde;ena and Garnacha, as well as some Cabernet Sauvignon.&nbsp; The 2004 is an excellent year and makes great drinking right now, though I found the wine benefited from aeration through decanting.&nbsp; I had it the next day and it was even better.&nbsp; Some age in bottle will definitely improve it.&nbsp; <br />Bodega: Venus la Universal<br />Carretera Porrera, s/n<br />Tel: 97 783 0545<br />No web site<br />Founded: 1999<br />Barrels:&nbsp; 105<br />Annual production: 50,000 liters <br />Vineyards:&nbsp; 4 hectares <br />Wine: Dido la Universal 2004<br />DO Montsant<br />Cabernet Sauvignon, old vine Grenache and Carignan<br />13.5% alcohol<br />Little information on production methods<br />Some time spent in French oak<br /><div><br />Tasting notes:&nbsp; <br />Visual: Deep, youthful&nbsp; cherry red<br />Nose:&nbsp; Black fruit, mineral, almost chalky.&nbsp; Anis and a touch of olive.&nbsp; Some wood notes, but very subtle. <br />Mouth:&nbsp; Powerful yet elegant.&nbsp; Closed at first, tannins very present.&nbsp; Air opens up the fruit and mineral nature.&nbsp; Very intense flavor and structure yet it has a very refreshing profile. &nbsp;Wood adds complexity but very much dominated by other elements. <br />Conclusion: Very dense wine, that takes some opening up.&nbsp; Amazing complexity for this price level.&nbsp; Will definitely benefit from some aging, but good drinking now!<br /><div><br /><strong>3.&nbsp;<u> Pago de los Capellanes Roble 2004</u>: 8&euro;<br /></strong><div><br />{mosimage}It's hard to find a Ribera del Duero with some oak in this price range.&nbsp; To me Pago de los Capellanes offers some of the best wine for the lowest prices in Ribera del Duero. The Denominacion de Or&iacute;gen (DO) Ribera del Duero is one of the top quality red wine producers in Spain.&nbsp; Unfortunately this means that the prices are correspondingly high.&nbsp; The less expensive wines of the DO tend to be unimpressive wines made from the millions of new vines that were only planted a few years ago.&nbsp; Because the DO is expanding at a huge rate, there are tons of young vines and those grapes must be used, usually creating inferior wines.&nbsp; <br />Luckily this Bodega is a happy exception.&nbsp; I am consistently amazed at the quality they provide for a reasonable price. One of the critical factors that allows this is that they have low yields, far below the limit set by the DO.&nbsp; Their crianza is one of my favorites at only about 12 euros a bottle, the current vintage is 2002, a difficult year.&nbsp; This 2004 roble, which has five months in French oak, also represents amazing value, and shows off the good vintage.&nbsp; <br />Bodega: Pago de los Capellanes<br />DO Ribera del Duero<br />Pedrosa del Duero<br />Tel: 94 753 0068<br /><a href="http://www.pagodeloscapellanes.com/cast/index.html"><u>www.pagodeloscapellanes.com</u></a><br />Founded: 1996<br />Barrels:&nbsp; 2,000<br />Annual production: 500,000 liters <br />Vineyards:&nbsp; 100 hectares <br />Wine: Pago de los Capellanes 2004 Roble<br />80% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot<br />13.5% alcohol<br />5 months in 100% new French oak, medium toast<br /><div><br />Tasting notes:&nbsp; <br />Visual: Intense purple, quite opaque<br />Nose:&nbsp; Very mineral nose: wet stones.&nbsp; Intense black cherry fruit.&nbsp; Quite a high level of complexity for a joven with only a few months in barrel.&nbsp; Definitely some oak, vanilla, and clove tones, as well as some barrel toastiness.&nbsp; In the end, though, the fruit and mineral dominate. <br />Mouth:&nbsp; Powerful yet smooth.&nbsp; Very dense mouthfeel, tannins are very present but remarkably smooth.&nbsp; Intense cherry and plum fruit and the mineral stones from the nose carries over to the mouth.&nbsp; Wood present with dry spice notes (clove), but does not dominate.&nbsp; Long finish dominated by smooth tannins, with black fruit. &nbsp;<br />Conclusion: Tremendous presence for what is called a joven, but is easily equal to a crianza from other regions.&nbsp; This wine is wonderful now, and improves with some aeration.&nbsp; Very smooth now, but I think it will improve a little over some time as the tannins and fruit round out even more.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>