Real Bodega Reserva Tempranillo 2002

Real Bodega Reserva Tempranillo 2002
La Mancha, Spain, $113, cork seal

This is my entry for Wine Blogging Wednesday on the theme 'passionate Spanish wine'. The mission was "to taste at least one bottle of Spanish wine, red or white, preferably under $10". This was an adventure I liked the sound of and decided to limit myself to a search of the wine shops of the Yuen Long area where I live. US$10 is currently about HK$80 and wine prices are so high in Hong Kong I thought I'd probably be pushing this limit.

My search took my on a bit of an adventure around Yuen Long's three and a half wine shops. The first shop's only Spanish wine was piled high the doorway soaking up sun. The second shop was closed (it was Sunday), but on my third attempt I found something that fitted the criteria for only $113. Hailing from La Mancha, Real Bodega is 100% Tempranillo and aged in a mix of French and America oak.

Real Bodega started well being a fantastic rich, purple colour. The nose was a little subdued, but there were hints of pepper, tobacco, blackberries, a few herbs and liquorice. These flavours carried onto the palate and the liquorice element become more prominent. What I was most impressed by was the texture of Real Bodega; there were plenty of tannins present, but they were the big, soft, cuddly type (perhaps something like Hong Kong's new Giant Pandas). The wine filled out in the mouth offering plenty of depth and texture. Real Bodega Reserva Tempranillo 2002 was a pretty decent wine: it went well with food, was easy to drink and for Hong Kong was pretty reasonably priced. I did however find that it lacked a bit of interest and excitement and I suppose I was looking more for the "passion" in "passionate Spanish wine".

Visit winery website, Wine Blogging Wednesday #35 website or the home of WBW.