Posada Del Rey - Vino Tinto

Ah! Now that’s what I call a good wine. From the first sip to the last it was a smooth and lovely wine. The moment I opened the bottle the first whiff was an ‘Aha!’ moment. The first whiff also told me that this one needed to breathe for a bit before you could enjoy it.

So having poured the barest minimum to keep me going, I left the bottle open on the table so it would take in the much needed oxygen to get to an optimum level of taste.

So, while we let the wine breathe, let me tell you where this was. We had all gone to a lovely resort called swarga. (www.swarga.in).

A glimpse of what the resort has to offer

It is not really what you would expect from a resort in the traditional sense. It is not meant for those looking for a 5 star holiday, if you are among them feel free to skip the next two paras. This resort has 6 dogs, 1 horse and a few cows roaming around in the living space. There are only a handful of rooms so it is unlikely to be overrun by noisy boisterous guests (unless my family is there of course). It is a basic place from the comfort perspective. But what it lacks in the comfort zone it more than makes up with the host – Chirag, a gem of a chap. He is the owner of this resort along with 650 acres of coffee estate. For someone who owns that much in real estate he is really down to earth and extremely friendly. What was most amazing was the way he kept answering all the questions our kids posed him non-stop.

Now to come to the most important part, he was 'ok' with us popping open our own bottles in the dining space and sitting there to have a good time. He was also kind enough to join us for a round or two. So, now with the background and locale well established, let us get back to the wine.

So, the wine breathed on its own for a while, half an hour to 45 minutes tops. At home this would have been done in a stylish decanter, but there it had to be in the bottle.

Once it had breathed, it really opened up. The color was a lovely dark red, burgundy. It had a very smooth texture, it was not full-bodied, quite light in fact. The taste was sweetish. It was just on the edge of sweet and slightly spicy towards the back end of the sip. All through, the wine was simply nice. Alcohol content was at 13.5% not too bold and not too low either.

So what wine is this ? This comes from the region of Spain which makes the Rioja. The Spanish wine control laws mean only a certain part of the harvest is used for Rioja. The surplus is used to make other wines one of which is the Posada Del Rey – Vino Tinto. So, basically it is the same grapes as the Rioja but without the word Rioja written on the label. This particular one is also not Oak aged, so it is missing some of the typically Oaky whiffs. In this case it is a blessing in disguise. The wine tastes fresh and not very dry or tanniny. It does not leave you feeling like you need to drink a gallon of water which a well-aged Rioja might actually make you do.

All in all, I completely recommend this wine. I got mine from the Wine Society of India. Excellent stuff delivered straight to the home. At 1,250.00 it is a tad pricey considering that it is about $12 in the US but then we all know why that is so. We need to do our best to fill the demand supply gap so the prices can correct themselves, please go buy a bottle or three and make your contributions to the cause.

Plug Alert!! Just by the way folks, I have a couple of the wine society coupons which you could use to get some freebies if you become members, of course yours truly will get a free bottle too. Please write to me if you want to use one of these.