Spanish Wines - "Mederano" and "Navarrsotillo"

Apposite to my previous entry with the partly Spanish quote, I would like to bring Spanish wines to your attention. My long-term favourite has been the Spanish Mederano Tinto (Freixenet). At a price of about 4 Euros, it is a reasonably priced wine and nice for this price (I would rate it 4 stars). Recently, I have made the experience that red wines below 4 Euros are usually kind of awful.

On Friday, we ran errands at the local organic grocery store. At a special price, I bought "Navarrsotillo Joven 2009 Rioja Noemus".
http://www.navarrsotillo.com/en/index2.html
(For a picture, click products - see products - Vino Doc Rioja Joven - Tinto)
Special price was about €5.50, regular price should be about €7.00 - 8.00.
And boy, was it tasty. It was fruity and slightly sparkling from the beginning and it was just as good the next evening. Well, I am not so good at wine tasting/testing. The website says:
"A young Rioja wine, balanced and with body, obtained from a skilful mixture of varieties. It has an attractive cherry red colour with violet glints, very clean, with a medium to high robe. It has a sound, whole nose wrapped in spicy clove and vanilla tones. It has the typical acidity of the grapes used, giving it freshness and good persistent finish, and a meaty, tannic mouth feel.
Noemus: The Israeli patriarch Noah, said to be the first man to get drunk on wine."
I would love to drink this one again. For the time being, I would rate it 5 stars but then I am rather unexperienced. So do not take this too seriously. ;)

I cannot wait to try other Spanish wines as well as Greek ones.

Luzon red

I am apart of our local liquor store's wine club. Which means that once a month they send me a coupon for what ever bottle of wine they choose that month. It's unusually an inexpensive bottle that gets decent reviews. So I picked up a bottle of Luzon for the whopping price of $6 and some cents. It took a while to get to opening the bottle and giving it a go.
I opened the bottle up a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. A little bitey but that decreased as the wine breathed. I enjoyed a nice glass in the evening then recorked to have some the following night. The next night while cooking dinner and sipped on another glass and the wine was already very rapidly oxidizing. The bitey flavor was very strong and not decreasing this time. I was a bit bummed.
This wine is from Spain and I believe the bottle I bought was the 2007 vintage. So if you find this bottle in your wine rack make sure to finish it off the night you open it!

Vino de España: Mederaño

Today, I would like to recommend a white wine. In fact, it is one of my favourite white wines. It is from Spain and great for mild summer nights. The brand Freixenet is well-known for its high-quality sparkling wines. However, this wine from the same brand is even a little bit cheaper than the sparkling wines. A bottle of Freixenet Mederaño is about 4 Euros. What I like about this wine is that it is quite refreshing, just like a white wine should be. Since, I am not a conoisseur of wines, I will translate the description of the German Freixenet Mederaño website about this wine for you. It says:

Fiery fizzy temperament
Mederaño shines stray yellow in the light. After the first sip, you will be surprised by its fizzy-fresh attack. Its grapefruit taste will remain on your palate for a long time [nina: I would never have thought it tastes like grapefruit BTW]. At the same time,it tastes fruity and has a plesant ratio of sweetness and sourness [nina: a wonderful description, total agreement on my side]. Enjoy this fresh, light white wine - just without many words.
These flavours tickle the nose
A display of fireworks of fruity flavours: freshly spicy scent of pear, banana, a little bit of white pepper and mirabelle [nina: so, no grapefruit anymore? These fruit comparisons do meet with my approval :) ].
Sommelier recommendation
Highly recommended as a soloist. It goes well with light meals like fish, poultry or salads like tomatoe-mozzarella.

Mmmh, tomatoe-mozzarella salad and pesto! I can imagine that very well now. :)
Watch out for this wine or brand. It seems like you can buy Freixenet wines, at least the sparkling wines, in the U.S., too. Look here. I can only recommend those as well!

*edit* Listening to the Desperado Soundtrack goes also well with the wine! :)