Sunday, June 1, 2008

Campo Viejo Reserva 2003

Area: Spain, Rioja
Grape: 75% Tempranillo, 15% Graciano, 10% CariƱena
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating with food: Black; 85 Dilettante; 85
Rating without food: Black 82 Dilettante; 81

Description: The nose has elements of vanilla and pool liner. On the palate it's silky smooth with soft flavors of ripe red fruits. This wine has more mid and high notes than low notes. Unfortunately, the few lows fade quickly. This is definitely a food wine. There's a big difference in this wine with and without food. That's why we gave it two different ratings. It really needs a catalyst to give it some life and structure. This is very easy drinking probably because there's not much going on. Decanting doesn't matter.

Food Pairing: red meat, beef pot pie, pork, lamb
Musical Pairing: Enya, Pearls before Swine
TV Pairing: not recommended

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