WTN: Yeah it's a 'gona' allright

[Jenise]

Years ago I walked into the L.A. Wine House and asked a salesman who specialized in Spanish wines to put together a case of his reccomendations for me. For no reason at all, I never got around to opening this 1998 Castell de Falset until last night when an aged Rioja sounded like just the ticket for our sherry-braised pork with chives and prunes.

Wrong again, Mrs. Jones! First off, it's not a Rioja but would instead to be from a place I've not even heard of, Tarragona. Made of 45% grenache, 35% cab and 20% tempranillo from 50 year old vines, though, it should have been okay. But it wasn't: at first look and sniff it seemed surprisingly young--dark purple red in color with bright, polished blackcurrant fruit. After a few more sips, we realized all this was due to excessive extraction and filtration. after a few more sips, the piney flavors of what I would guess is American oak took over. And then it died. We couldn't finish a glass.

I’m sorry about the wine, but a few years ago, we visited Tarragona which is a coastal city that’s about an hour-and-a-half drive south of Barcelona. I think it is just in the fringes of the Priorat wine region.

Ramon

[Jenise]

Thanks for helping me place it, Ramon. Your info urged me to check Wikipedia, hoping to further discover that Tarragona is related to the herb of the same name, but found no connection reported there. I did find out that there's a Universal Studios theme park nearby, though. Somehow, that just doesn't square with my romantic image of Spanish wine growing regions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarragona