To Drink: $5 Wine, Vol. 3, La Mano Spanish Mencia Roble Edition

I love putting wine in different bottles. This makes me feel very bistro-chic.

All the time this wine research is making me feel better about myself, which was certainly an unintended consequence when I set out to become a $5 wine sommelier (a word I must look up every time I type it). 

Because when I was in Trader Joe's deciding on my wine for the week, I was feeling deflated. I'm just not ready to sink into merlot. It's too depressing. "I'll just take a glass of that merlot," is said only by the lonely. (Rhymes!) And, then the wines I had in mind (we actually buy them all the time because the labels are adorable) were blends and I CAHN'T be blending when I'm still such a baby; my palate is a damn BABY it can't decipher TWO tastes at once.

The wine.

ANYWAY, so get this. I'm perusing the shelves and all of a sudden, there's a hand being raised in front of me. It's La Mano mencia roble, and I think to myself: MENCIA ROBLE... what is that?! (I piece together roble means red, because I'm intuitive) but still, mencia means NOTHING to me. I perk up, instantly. SOLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDD to the lady in the black coat.

"Put your hands up"-Beyonce, (Blue Ivy's mum) All the Single Ladies

And then, as I begin my research, it turns out that NYTimes wine critic, Eric Asimov recommends Mencia as one of 5 lesser known wine varietals to add to your rack!!!! HE even says it's lesser known and he knows ALL THE WINES.

He says: Mencía, the leading red grape of northwestern Spain, makes wonderful red wines in the regions of Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra. Its haunting, wild fruit flavors are on full display, in the denser, burlier wines of Bierzo (which is where my $5 guy comes from).

And, Jancis says: A high-quality grape grown widely in north-west Spain, especially Bierzo, making perfumed, relatively light-bodied reds. Highly distinctive.

So, I'm a little nervous because they're contradicting each other. Eric's like: burly, dense and Jancis is like, perfumey, light. That's like a bear of man versus a ballerina. OY.

Further research suggests that this is a finicky little grape! It needs to be plucked immediately and has a tendency toward high acidity and high alcohol. It should be dark fruit flavored, maroon in color, with herbaceous tones.

This is one of my favorite tables because it's black and white. Maybe not good for viewing the color of the wine??

Finally, the wine label promises lively cherry red color, pepper and red fruit aromas. Medium bodied.

Sooooooo basically I have no idea what to expect. It will be fruits of either red or dark colors. It will be light or dense. It will be herby or peppery. Maybe it will be all of them! I'm also worried because why would this low-yielding, regional grape be selling for $5 in DC? Doesn't that seem like totally rando, bitches? 

So how did it taste?

I love these bottles! And, this was a fun experiment because the wine got real bubbly as it flowed through the funnel. There was a delightful red fruit smell permeating the air. Oskar agreed.

Well it sort of was a big mixture of all the notes. But, mostly, it was cherry forward. It was light and slightly acidic and definitely not dark fruit. It wasn't blackberry juicy but more of dainty dancing cherry pirouetting bear.

I need to figure out why it seems that cheaper wines aren't as robust. What is it about their production that makes them flimsier? For sure, I'd say, this wine lasted longer in my mouth than the malbec or the montepulciano. (Wine tastings brought to you by the letter M!)

Final thoughts:

Was it true to its grape? Jancis promised distinction. Eric suggested burliness. It was neither. But the wine producer promised cherry notes, and for sure, that was present.
Would I drink it again? Uh huh.
Would I bring it to a party? Yes. I might not even be embarrassed about it.
Anything to remember? What if this was cold? I bet it would be a refreshing summer wine! I like cold red wine.

Speaking of which, we had a little left over. AND, I decided to put the leftovers in one of the 6 small faux-milk bottles I got for Christmas. (Did you know that if you have leftover wine you should put it in a container with the least amount of oxygen possible? That's part of what makes wine go bad-- the oxidization.) SO this was a perfect fit! AND, speaking of cold red wine, wouldn't it be perfect, in that container, at a picnic?

This photo was meant to illustrate the size of the bottle. But you don't know what size Larrel is. Just imagine whatever size you think a turtlenecked stuffed bear would be. And then, that.

Whitney's Wine Score (1-42): 31 (Sure. Ya. I can drink that again. Soonish, even.)

So far, I've reviewed wines from Argentina, Italy and Spain. The montepulciano and mencia roble were quite similar. And the malbec was only fine. Next week, we're going to do a big wowza bonanza two at once taste test to really mix things up, because Valentine's Day, etc.

The Meaning of the Points:
1-10: Hellllllllllllllll no.
11-19: I mean, no thank you. But. Eh.
20-27: Fine. That was fine. Fair enough.
28-34: Sure. Ya. I can drink that again. Soonish, even.
35-40: Oh! How delightful. Yes, please, again!
40-42: Amazeballs. Completely lovely. Excellent. Can I have another bottle, now?