Tempranillo-based wine from a not-exactly-renowned vintage in the Toro region. The label totally rocks. This really stood out on the shelf.
The nose is quite confronting, with black pepper, oak, spiced meats, strange floral notes and the smell of dark red fruits that have fallen from the tree and been trodden into the pavement (overripe, sour-edged). It smells both excessively and insufficiently ripe at the same time. Nothing if not expressive, its character is sufficiently outré that I'm sure it will test some peoples' sense of appropriateness. Not a bad thing.
Structurally, this wine is all over the place, mostly due to a lack of harmony in the placement of its constituent parts: sweet fruit, coarse tannins, rough acidity and a lift of oak flavour. Drinking this wine is like having a bunch of things thrown into your mouth in no particular order; it's not an especially refined experience. Yet it's also quite drinkable in an odd way, probably because it's so forthright and unapologetic. Quite a short finish.
I would imagine a better vintage might yield greater class and balance, and will look out for the 2008, which is (from what I've read) a superior wine. Still, I'm having fun drinking this and imagine it will complement well the chorizo sausages frying away in my kitchen.
Perfect note. Recreates my experience of it exactly. It's "The Kramer"...I'm repulsed, yet I can't look away. I sinked my bottle mind you :)
GW
Definitely Krameresque. Seemed to get worse as the bottle emptied, partly due to a mini civil war between it and the chorizo (not one of my most successful food/wine pairings). I'm exhausted.