2010 (mostly) Tempranillo Crianza from Rioja

At a glance:

Country: Spain

Region: Rioja

Grape(s): Tempranillo (90%), garnacha, (7%), graciano (3%)

Year: 2010

Maker: Hacienda Lopez de Haro

Price:  9.69

I think the first time I declared I was into wine was when I spent a year studying abroad in Madrid. Living in a shitty apartment with three other guys, all of us international students, I had plenty of free time and a university-provided 400 euro monthly stipend for food. If I had to do it again, I would have spent at least some of that at cool restaurants, exploring the options in a major European city.

Instead, I spent a decent amount of that on little trips on EasyJet, hitting up Ireland, Italy, and France, along with a few long bus rides to destinations around Spain. I did, however, spend at least some of that on wine, mostly the kind that was less than 5 euros and lived on the lower shelves of my local grocery store. These were mostly two sorts of wine – verdejos from Rueda and inexpensive tempranillo Crianzas from Rioja.

And so it’s that kind of wine I revisited the other night (see, it wasn’t just an outpouring of unrelated nostalgia!) after seeing it for under $10 at a local wine store. I was a little worried
at first that it might be like some of the cheaper versions of those wines I had back in college – too much vanilla, overoaked and a little bit overwhelming, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was tannic, a little bit of char towards the end, and eminently drinkable. That said, it also wasn’t blowing me away. While was bouyant towards the middle (I have no idea what that means, just felt that way), so I wouldn’t describe it as flat, it also just wasn’t all that interesting. It was, in the end, a nice little ride down memory lane (though $10 is far more than I would have spent back then), but not a particularly memorable wine, so don’t think I will be revisiting it any time soon.