Wines I'm loving right now: 2007 Tapena Tempranillo & others

1) 2007 Tapena Tempranillo

For an inexpensive wine ($9.99 at NH liquor stores), this tempranillo is surprisingly smooth. It's a lighter red wine. For those of you who can't handle merlots and cabernets, this tempranillo might be easier to handle. It's fruity without being sweet and while it's light enough to drink in warmer weather (62 degrees today!), it's got enough body to it to be paired with hearty ingredients like lamb and beef. Delicious-I'll be buying more.

2) 1998 Jean Noel Gagnard Santenay Clos de Tavannes 1er Cru

Mmmmmm, love on the tongue! Clos de Tavannes is a Pinot Noir grape, from the Burgundy region of France and while Pinot Noir's have been hugely popular for the last several years, I've never found them as exciting as others have. This wine was different. So delicate and soft, unlike any other wine I've ever had. The color was slightly darker than a ros'e but it had a lot less sweetness and a lot more body than a ros'e. Wonderful stuff but I can't seem to find it anywhere (I tried it at a restaurant renowned for it's wine cellar). I've found other vintages (2001 and 2000) but I am really hoping to find the 1998 somewhere. The 2001 and 2000 retail for about $25, the 1998 probably retails for $35. Jean Noel Gagnard's winery is still creating wines but I can't seem to figure out if this one if still in production. Fingers crossed.

3) 2006 Ghost Pines Winemakers Blend Chardonnay

I am not a white wine drinker. Sure, some of it is tasty but I get serious acid burps (aren't I a classy lady???) from it. So strange, you would think red would be more likely to cause that. Anyhow, I usually avoid white wine unless I stumble across something spectacular. This ended up in my hands as a gift. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have picked up a couple bottles of it since. It's smooth, dry and buttery with apple and pear flavors. No really. Sometimes they say a wine tastes like certain fruits and you drink it and say "Bullshit! It tastes like alcohol!" but no, this really has hints of fruit. It retails for about $15.99. And no acid burps. Score!!!

All text and photographs © 2008, 2009 Food is to love / Andrea Quigley