My July wines.

Here we go...

- Fino El Maestro Sierra (4.75 EUR) DO Jerez y Manzanilla - Sanlucar de Barrameda
Usual pale yellow. Smells of nut peelings, green olives, etc. Fresh, sea an really vivid sip. A couple of days after I find more quiet in nose, but bigger in mouth. Anyhow always pungent. Nice wine with nice
QPR, well paired with a sort of ratatouille with marinated salmon topping.

- Mistela Negra Josefina Piñol 2004 (¿15-18 EUR?) DO Terra Alta
Nice sweet/dessert wine. Really balanced, wine-grape character. Not a myriad of smells or flavours, but they’re really integrated, dates, mulberries and blackberries jam, but overall I remark the balance and no trace of cloying.

- Charles Hours Cuvée Marie Jurancon Sec 2002 AOC Jurancon (11.95 EUR)
Golden yellow. Smoke hints, peanuts peeling, mango, grapefruit, bones from boned-fruits. In mouth is this, guided by a nice and remarkable acidity that reminds me, again, grapefruit. Nice night, almost full moon, everything quiet, but who in the hell is playing hip-hop in the stereo soooo loud... two buildings from here!
Well, let the wine place me out of this annoying sound... It’s a nice wine to be paired with food. Tonight (I had no lunch today, so...) courgette ravioli stuffed with marinated salmon and sea-bass grilled over mustard cream. I find it 2 bucks overpriced; odd to say just for a couple of bucks, but I’d feel more comfortable having this wine in the 10 EUR range than in the 12 EUR one. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed this wine and as soon as I can I’ll have more bottles next to me and in my cup.

- Montesierra Merlot-Cabernet Rosado 2005 DO Somontano (5.4 EUR)
Strawberries of course, but I’d remark a nice balance between creaminess and acidity. It’s been a surprise to find a rosé with a creamy sip, absolutely attached to the acidity and being a really nice wine. I’ll try to have more bottles of this one.
It’s been nice with a summer chickpea salda and ’papas arrugas’ (traditional dish from Canary Islands, made with tiny-tiny-tiny potatoes) and a my-way tartara sauce. I say ’my-way’ because this weekend is really hot and don’t really care about following recipes step-by-step. With this temperature even rules get boiled! On the other hand, I think that this wine would be really nice with meaty paellas, due to its weigh in mouth.

- Clos du Tue-Boeuf Rouillon 2003 Thierry Puzelat AOC Cheverny (9.21 EUR)
Sepia sunset color. A storm has decreased the summer heat and it makes being in the mood to uncork this bottle. Deception is the word. All that I liked it in the bottle drank months ago, aren’t here. Neither leaving it breath for hours, nor days... It smells like camphor and greengage. The sip is a plonk. Everything is out of its place. Fortunately I did enjoy the preceding bottle of this wine so it makes me look at this wine in a different way. Vintage issue or maybe this wine is not made for lasting 3 years? Or maybe it’s just
a bottle issue. I hope the last one is what had happened to this bottle. Bad bottle. Bad week.

- Baltasar Gracián Rosado. Garnacha. Vendimia Seleccionada 2005 DO Calatayud (4.4 EUR)
As nice as the preceding bottle. Fruity. fresh, really nice. Even some hints of watermelon doesn’t disturb and I don’t like neither watermelon nor the wines that show this touches. Really nice rosé to drink with snacks and easy dishes these hot summer days. My discovery for this year as rosé-always-on-fridge-just-in-case (any single word to say this? ;)

- Clos du Tue-Boeuf Frileuse 2003 AOC Cheverny (8.74 EUR)
Dust yellow. Touch of matchstick that disappear fast. Soft honey hints, acidity, apple in the oven... and everything has gone just leaving a touch of white acid fruit. Boringly boring. I don’t know if I can blame the vintage, this bottle or just this wine is as-is and I don’t like it. Month is ending, but if I’ve another deception... I’ll go as a Carthusian monk!

- Agustí Torelló Mata Reserva 2002<