<a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_N6XlKRvqM98/RnGjAhLBVcI/AAAAAAAAAII/CJ-PXS5n1Ns/s1600-h/Mancha+Red+Horn+2004.JPG"><img border="0" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_N6XlKRvqM98/RnGjAhLBVcI/AAAAAAAAAII/CJ-PXS5n1Ns/s200/Mancha+Red+Horn+2004.JPG" style="float:right;cursor:hand;margin:0 0 10px 10px;" /></a>This is a great example of some of the great value, high quality wines coming out of La Mancha at the moment. Ezekiel Sánchez-Mateos, owner of the great little wine store, Reserva y Cata, makes this wine. He has a wonderful personalized selection of wines in his store and on the days he is there, he can guide you really well, and he can also help you in English! Ezekiel runs one of the few stores in town, where each wine is individually selected with care. Check out the website at: <a href="http://www.reservaycata.com/">http://www.reservaycata.com/</a>

Love the packaging and name of this wine…made for the export market with its English name alluding to the famous Spanish bull and its catchy label. This is it's inauguration vintage and it is already very good….it will be outstanding in the next few years.

Wine: Red Horn
Winery: Galgo Wines
Vintage: 2004
Denominacion de Origen (DO): LA Mancha
Alc: 13.5%
Grape variety: 90% Tempranillo, 10% Syrah
Oak regime: aged 6 months in American oak
Price: 7 euros in Spain

Tasting notes
Visual: Deep ruby color
Nose: Med-high intensity in nose. Great blueberry and vanilla scents…offers some complexity.
Mouth: Enters mouth with a tremendous burst of smooth fruit…nice structure. Huge tannins, that are somewhat rough. Finish is dominated by tannins and spice.
Food: A big wine that would do best with a big cut of meat.

Conclusion: A big, robust wine that offers a lot in its price point. It needs a few more months to smooth out the tannins, but the fruit is definitely robust enough to take some aging too. A perfect, inexpensive wine, to go with a wonderful "chuleton", one of the huge, bone-in, steaks so common in northern Spain!