AND WE'RE BACK! Wine Review: 2008 Vinos De Arganza Lagar De Robla Mencia

Shannon's first wine review post-birth of our son Morgan.  He is a healthy baby boy and she wants to keep it that way so she is having a minimal glass between feedings.  To her it is a moral victory to be back in the land of wine tasting.

It's good to have her back even if it is on a part time basis.  Hopefully, our volume of reviews/posts will start to increase again.  Thank goodness the pressure is off of me....whew.

We purchased this wine while she was on the bench at Cristall Wine Merchants back in late-Winter or early-Spring.  We love Mencia so we bought this one and another from the Bierzo region which we will review at a later date.  This one is from the Castilla y Leon region in the NW of Spain not far from Bierzo.

While we would probably consider this a medium bodied wine but it would be on the heavier side of medium.  This is a pretty dark wine and we would call the colour crimson with a mahogany rim around the edge. The body kind of comes from the thickness which sticks to the glass pretty tightly.

The nose is somewhat familiar with solid notes of oak.  They say it was aged for 18 months and we believe it.  There is a good amount of spice and cherries in the smells but really oak is the first thing we get, in a good way.  The cherry scents are really attractive and carry over into the flavours of the wine.  Very solid nose.

This is a dry wine with a nice balance of fruit and acid.  It is a sour cherry or black current flavour profile with a touch of vanilla from the oak.  There is a tartness that has a deliciousness to it.  It begins to border on hot but it was not overpowering and the wine lingers on the palate for quite a while once you swallow it. Overall, a pretty nice wine.  

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Medium to close to full bodied wine, dark red with a brownish tinge on the rim.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Cherries and spice with a good amount of oak.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Cherries or black currents dominate with vanilla notes and a tartness that adds to the mouth watering wine that lingers on the palate.	7.75
	Total:	15.75 / 20 (78.75%)

We have a real interest in Mencia and though this is not the best we've had it is still a solid wine.  At $17 it is a good price point and we look forward to trying more in the future.

Keep on tasting!

Chris & Shannon