Open Mike: Tempranillo.

Thank you, Victor. I've puzzled over Spanish tasting notes that used descriptors like "Rubí con menisco teja." It never occurred to me that the writer was being more precise about the color of the wine in the "rim" of the glass.

They are describing the color of the wine in the meniscus, the upward curving area where the surface tension of the wine meets the glass. The color would have to be quite distinctive in such a small volume of wine.

Many thanks for clearing up this puzzling detail, Victor -- as always you are a source of great knowledge.

Thanks, Bob

Victor, I hope that you don't think that I'm so superficial as to use Google's translation software!

I did a search on the word itself and got a number of Spanish references but did not go far enough down to find yours; this is obviously the relevant definition here, for which many thanks.

Another definition of "meniscus" in the Oxford dictionary is "curved upper surface of liquid in tube" which is quite similar but not identical to yours. "Ménisque" in French is similar to "meniscus".

By the way, I still think it is abstruse in English, if not in Spanish.

If you look at a glass of young cabernet sauvignon, it will often look quite ruby-colored. Yet, if you look at the curved edge of the liquid, the telltale browning cabernet hue will often appear, indicating that the aging process has started. Yet a well-concentrated Australian shiraz will often be purple all the way - in the center and at the rim. The meniscus, in which color may change because it's so thin, gives us a different, interesting added element in the visual part of tasting wine, including a good clue about the wine's concentration...

Thanks, Victor for spelling it out further. It's been years since I've read about the colors "on the rim", but in memory at least my understanding was not very precise.

Regards, Bob

Blast, there goes my roofing tile descripter!! Oh just opened the Ercavio Tempranillo. I do not think there is a need to decant and will let sit for an hour. Lots of black fruits gushing out of the glass!

But this has been very positive, Bob. We (at least I) have learned the different meanings of an unfamiliar word in three languages and now have a good understanding of a useful Spanish wine descriptor.

Maybe a colour chart of roofing tiles is in order here!!! Betcha, they have some neat names for the different styles.

http://www.lasmariposasinternational.co ... e_bkgd.jpg

That's no good, Bob. When we say 'tuile' in France or 'teja' in Spain, we always refer to the color of the traditional terracotta tiles we inherited from Roman times:

http://www.comerciallinas.com/Teja1.gif

Thanks Victor, it was of course all in fun as I washed down the Ercavio!!

Tim had posted some notes on Ercavio a while back so I checked and found a bottle in my local store!! His bottle might have been cooked (?) so I was pretty wary of my mine. Need not have worried however and Victor is bang on with his assessment of this bodega although this is only my first bottle!!!!

WTN: `04 Ercavio Tempranillo Roble Mas Que Vinos.

Synthetic cork, 13.5% alc, some gonk around the cork/neck! Opened one hour, not decanted. Cost was $22 Cdn.

Colour. Big black inky wine, centre almost opaque w. medium purple tinges on the rim.

Nose. Cherry, blackberry, some oak hints blow off fast. Certainly not an aromatic nose (re previous discussion). Earth and plum after 3 hours.

Palate. Initial mouthfeel entry is soft tannins, ripe black fruits, excellent balance blends in with acidity here. The finish is spice, puckery almost savoury. There is a whole bunch of fruit here and the mid-palate really builds up to a tart and black cherry finish.
After a couple of hours, some jammy plum and coffee with raspberry appearing. Thoughts of a "new world style" came from across the table?

***after 24 hrs, more juicy acidity on the finish which has really evolved and softened up. No molasses or caramel Tim!! Will be buying more and hold for a year I think.

Re: Ercavio 04

Bob, this is much more in line with my impression of the 05 at the March tasting than with the bottle on which I wrote my TN. The main difference of the 04 compared with the good March bottle of 05 seems to be the absence of caramel and molasses notes (present but in balance then) and more acidity. So I would, no doubt, prefer the 04.

I am doubtful about Victor's theory of a cooked bottle, given the seriousness of the merchant from whom I bought it. More likely a sulky phase combined with inadequate airing on my part.

I was impressed by their overall line-up as I think my TN conveyed, if not by that last bottle.

Thanks Tim, I really did not highlight the difference overnight but am busy today writing nature articles for local newspapers so unable to concentrate on everything. To be honest, I am not sure all changes were positive but I am going to open another bottle asap.

Here's a Tempranillos I tried last weekend. Forgive my tasting notes' own terminology These were wine "tastings," so not the lengthy appreciation complex reds require, but...

Artesa 2005 Tempranillo. Napa Valley. Purple in color, with just a hint of lighter purple around the rim. Pronounced notes of earth, blueberry, and fuzzy tannins. Quite nice 3*

Hope and Grace? New winery to me.

Hoke: I jsut edited my thread post. I am embarrased to admit that posting here while thinking about/doing work at the same time is not a good idea.

The Hope and Grace should have been posted on a MALBEC thread.


I am an idiot.

Still-this small project was a discovery for me.

Malbec?? LOL.

I am doubtful about Victor's theory of a cooked bottle, given the seriousness of the merchant from whom I bought it.

Not a problem of honesty - I am strongly doubtful that your merchant can control the wine's whole trek - from the winery at Dosbarrios, Spain to his shop.

Re: honesty

Actually there may be a problem of honesty or at least of commercial rigour, if some of the bottles were cooked during the transport from Spain.

The bottles shown by Ms Schmedes at the tasting were excellent and one my three, opened soon afterwards, was OK. If, as is quite possible in this hypothesis, Ms Schmedes had to reject some "off" bottles at the tasting, that should have alerted the merchants to a problem and, ideally, they ought to have pulled the offending cartons from sale.

Alternative thought: maybe the plastic corks are a cause of irregularity, particularly in the case of exposure to heat.

Bump up for Basi.

Ercavio Tempanillo "Roble" 2005 (EUR 8,59) revisited -

This was on show at yesterday's tasting and I am happy to say that it was again as good as the one tasted in March showing deep fruit, brightness and vigour with any caramel hints well back in the background; 15.5/20 and super QPR.

This effaces the memory of the poor bottle which I noted above. Victor's hypothesis of heat damage somewhere must be the most plausible explanation but I hesitate to buy more as there may be other below par bottles in the importer's stock like two out of my three.

(BTW, not subliminal TCA because synthetic stoppers used.)

Good to hear Tim. As I stated before, have another bottle stacked to go in a year!