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.

"Tome y Traiga"

"Tome y Traiga (Give and Take): things in life come and go; drink the wine and let me drink some too."

~ booklet of the CD "El Chango: the Very Best of"

I found this quote in a booklet of an album by a musician with the name Chango Spasiuk related to a traditional song called "Tome y Traiga". I had never heard or read this quote before and liked it.

Tollinger mit Lemberger

Earlier this year I received an awesome happy baby gift from a good friend in Germany. She sent a small bottle of German wine. She picked a kind that she had not tried with the great idea that we could try it on the same week and discuss. Later we came up with the idea that we should try it together via skype. Last Saturday Nordwolke and her husband sat in front of their computers in Germany and 7hrs and a gazillion miles away me and Chris sat in front of our computers while the four of us sipped wine and beer and chatted the night away.

She sent a small bottle of wine from the Felsengartenkellerei Beigheim winery. It's the Trollinger mit Lemberger the name of two grapes blended together. It was a good wine, something different than I'd ever had before. It was the color of cranberry juice, darker than a blush but lighter than a normal red wine. It tasted sorta like a concentrated blush. Strong fruit flavors but it was dry wine. Definitely not too sweet. I can't really think of anything to compare it to that I've tried before. I enjoyed this over a blush. It is a great table wine in that you don't have to eat to enjoy this wine, or it would go great with just about any meal. I would try this again, or maybe try another from the same company.

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! :)

Schwarze Mädchentraube: Red wine from Romania

Schwarze Mädchentraube 2007 (Original Schwalbenkranz)
So, this is my first try to review a wine! Let's go. This is not the wine I intended to review in my first entry. But tonight I was in the mood for a red wine. This is a remaining bottle of my birthday more than a month ago. It's a Romanian wine. Maybe you can translate (online) the only link in German I have found about this wine. It's a reasonable priced wine (less than 5 Euros if I remember it correctly) and the link says: "'The Original with the Schwalbenkranz' [the label] is produced, with love and care, in traditional Romanian wineries and mirrors 50 years of experience and enthusiasm for Romanian wines." ("'Das Original mit dem Schwalbenkranz' wird in traditionellen rumänischen Kellereien mit Liebe und Sorgfalt hergestellt und spiegelt 50 Jahre Erfahrung und Begeisterung für rumänische Weine wider."). Schwarze Mädchentraube can be translated as "black girl-grape".
Now my attempt of a review. It smells like red fruit/grape juice in the glass. In my opinion it tastes kinda zippy and is a good wine for parties, feasts or nice evenings with friends. Or for any occasion. ;) It tastes fruity-sweet in the beginning (but not too sweet in my opinion) and is dry in the end. A medium-strong cheese (e.g. an Italian cheese produced in the Alps) is a good choice for accompanying the joy of this wine. Cheers! Prost!