Dehesa De Rubiales 2004 Alaia

dwh

Tasting Tags:

Dehesa De Rubiales 2004 Alaia

cliffordjames

APPEARANCE: Very attractive deep ruby color to this wine, with violet highlights; the relative density is a good omen ... ON THE NOSE: Quite a lot of fruit here, dominated by sour cherry and sweet cherry, some black currant, figs, and just a hint of lime. A nice nose which offers a little something different: it reminds one of musty items taken from the basement, of cardboard accidentally left out in the rain, the insides of an old flea-market leather purse, the back seat of an old Mercedes with Tex-Mex seats, dried rolling tobacco, old hospital flowers, all covered in a light coating of cherry-caramel topping. Give this wine a chance (i.e. three hours or more) and the nose will eventually reward you with an enticing blend of tart and sweet. It is obvious this is not the nose of a thoroughbred, but aware that we popped open a $7 wine we are more than satisfied with what is here ... ON THE PALATE: A very tart attack which one would expect to be followed by, well, something, but this wine takes a few moments to settle into the mid-palate, and when it does it offers an unusually subtle sweet cream and caramel with medium to light soft but round tannins which flow down to the gums and into the cheeks, then the wine bounces up to the palate-proper with sour cherry that is disjointed, finishing with – bear with me here – a woody, metal plate of sour-cherry pits. The mouthfeel is medium but plush and satiny. The spike from attack to palate is indeed angular and not well polished, yet the sour-sweet (definitely not sweet-sour) combination works in its way, I suppose, though not making us admit that this is a particularly good wine; only much later did I say “Hmm, not too bad!” ... We’re always looking for a decent quaffer, Darcey and I, and whenever we open a “cheapie” like this (generally under $10) we find ourselves stating that perhaps this could be the one. It rarely is, and this Spanish contender is no exception: it probably won’t find its way into our quaffer coffers, ultimately, though not a bad little Tuesday-night wine at all, one we wouldn’t feel bad about not finishing, leaving some, perhaps, for the morning (something to remind me why I go into the office). Still, this Alaia gets better over time, so if you have a bottle definitely give it some time to gain its composure; if we get another bottle we’ll leave it open for four hours before touching it. The tannins end up being more balanced than originally anticipated, making the tart cherry seem more well-adjusted than it actually is. The finish, too, becomes less metallic and a bit sweeter after several hours, but never do we feel the need to add this to our next case either. All in all a good bottle and worth every nickel, which is much more than I can say for many, many wines that I have tried at the $7 price point. $7 indeed seems to be the new $5, just as $12 is the new $10. In context, then, this wine easily offers $7 worth of enjoyment with a solid 85 point rating. And THAT, my friends, is how we see it. Drink one yourself and let us know!

Tasting Tags: caramel floral leather metal soft-tannins sour-cherry sweet-cherry tobacco