Our blind tasting game—without the tasting! Can you identify a wine just by reading its tasting note? We post real Wine Spectator reviews. You use clues such as color, aromas, flavors and structure to figure out the grape, age and origin. Good luck!
Tasting Note: Bright and succulent, with a focused range of strawberry preserves, raspberry coulis and persimmon, wet stone and fragrant herbs and spices set in a light-on-its-feet, medium-bodied package. Reveals a fresh tang of orange peel acidity and light, taut tannins on the clean finish.
And the answer is...
Variety
Our medium-bodied mystery red is succulent with light tannins and red fruit, herb, spice and mineral notes. Let’s figure out what it is!
We can immediately eliminate Petite Sirah, which makes wines with very high levels of body and gripping tannins, as well as blue fruit, chocolate and pepper flavors. This doesn’t sound right for our wine.
Reds made from Trollinger (aka Schiava) can show rich red fruit notes. But these wines tend to be lighter-bodied with low levels of tannins. Let’s move on!
Carmenère can make medium-bodied reds with moderate levels of tannins and red fruit notes. This sounds right, except we are missing that grape’s distinctive chile and pepper notes. It has to go too.
While a Cabernet Sauvignon could show our wine’s mix of red fruit, herb, spice and mineral notes, we would expect more body and richer tannins from that variety. Maybe another grape works better?
Grenaches are often medium-bodied and succulent with light to moderate levels of tannins and a rich array of red fruit, herb, spice and mineral notes. We have a winner!
This wine is a Grenache.
Country or Region of Origin
Grenache grows around the world, but you would be unlikely to find the grape in Germany, and there are only a few plantings in Canada. There is some Grenache grown in Chile, but it isn’t nearly as prominent there as varieties such as Carménère, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. Washington state is a foothold region for Rhône Valley varieties like Syrah and, yes, Grenache. However, our wine is missing the hallmark cracked pepper, smoked meat and black olive notes of Washington Grenache. Spain is a key region for Grenache as well; here, the grape is known as Garnacha and used to make medium-bodied wines with moderate levels of tannins and rich red fruit, spice, mineral and herb notes. This sounds much more like what we’re looking for.
This Grenache is from Spain.
Appellation
We know that our Grenache is from Spain, so we can eliminate Chile’s Apalta, Germany’s Ahr, Canada’s Okanagan Valley and Washington state’s Columbia Valley. This leaves us with two Spanish appellations: Jerez and Sierras de Málaga. Located in southern Spain, Jerez is celebrated for its fortified Sherry wines; these are primarily made from grapes like Palomino, Muscat of Alexandria and Pedro Ximénez, but not Grenache. Meanwhile in Sierras de Málaga, another appellation in southern Spain, winemakers use a wide range of grapes, including Grenache. We have a clear choice.
This Grenache is from Sierras de Málaga.
Age
While a number of Spanish winemakers may choose to age their Grenaches before release, Grenaches are often enjoyable within a year or two of production. Our wine is showing rich fruit preserve notes, which may indicate some age, but it’s not showing signs of significant aging, such as mushroom flavors. Bearing this in mind, let’s look at some of Spain’s most recent vintages to figure out our wine’s age.
In 2022, much of Spain experienced a very dry and hot summer, and that year’s Grenaches tend to be dark-fruited and juicy with anise notes. Summer was more temperate in 2021, but spring frosts were a hindrance for a number of regions; the resulting Grenaches are often medium-bodied with lighter tannins and red fruit, spice and herb notes. Spanish winemakers experienced difficult weather in 2020, and many of that year’s Grenaches show chalky tannins and floral accents. Of this group, 2021’s Grenaches sound the most like our wine.
This Grenache is from the 2021 vintage, making it two years old.
Wine
This is the Jorge Ordoñez & Co. Garnacha Sierras de Málaga Botani 2021, which scored 90 points in the July 31, 2023, issue of Wine Spectator. It retails for $22, and 950 cases were made. For more on Spain’s wines, read senior editor Alison Napjus’ tasting report, "The Diversity of Spain," in our Oct. 15, 2022, issue.
—Collin Dreizen, associate editor
