So today I was at a "big box" wine & beer store and I purchased this 2015 El Prado, Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is a blend of two of my favorite red varietals which are Tempranillo 70% & Cabernet Sauvignon 30%, the wine also has a pretty reasonable alcohol percentage of 12.5%. Topping this all off but scaring me nonetheless is the fact that the wine costs a mere $6.59 and that begs the question, why would I buy a $6.59 wine in the first place? Here is the answer to that question. When I saw this wine on the shelf in the store I was immediately interested in it as I thought it sounded like a nice combination of varietals since I believe they both can/should go superbly together providing of course that both wines were made decently to begin with. Honestly, I am really excited to be tasting this blend and I truly hope it turns out to be a great wine and that both varietals are expressed as they should be. Now, let's gets into this review by starting off talking about the wines presentation in my glass.
Starting off here the wine in my glass showed itself with the appearance of a cherry cough syrup type red and was slightly on the watery side around the edges as well.
On the nose the wine was mostly peppery (typical of both red varietals) but did have a slight nose of caramel as well as coco. Overall however, the nose was (unfortunately) nothing really special and all three notes faded rather quickly.
On the Palette now the wine initially presented what came across with an ugly and definitely overly acidic and peppery dominance. Now while the peppery dominance note is also common for both varietals and I love it, the overly acidic part however should not be happening, for either varietal. Let me say this straight out right here, right now before I even get any further into this review. You would benefit greatly by allowing the wine to decant for at least a couple of hours prior to drinking. When I first opened this wine and tasted the first couple of sips I almost threw it away and had it not been for the fact that I was too lazy to get up, ( I know huh:) that is what I would have done. Thankfully however I took a break to hang out with Mrs. Desert Wine Girl who graced me with her presence in my Loft and when we got done hanging out two hours later, the wine had definitely opened up quite a bit and softened...a lot especially in the area of acidity thankfully. That overpowering acidity that ran over all the wines other notes had now toned down and was actually useful. As any worthy Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon should, this wine maintained a pretty moderate but palate leading, black pepper note after it had a chance to open up. A really nice palate note of cocoa that to me always goes hand in hand with mostly the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal but can be present in the Tempranillo varietal as well was picked up and I was certainly able to appreciate it as well. As a side note I want to tell you that I believe this cocoa note was actually instrumental in helping to tame down that over the top acidity. As I continue on with that cocoa, it also allowed for a note of black cherry to interact with a note of a cranberry type acidity which was being presented very gracefully here on the palate. Another note that I believe was effected positively by the cocoa note is one of that black pepper mentioned briefly earlier.
This cocoa note also has the ability to stand on it's own and is only complimented by the pepper. Yes folks,the pepper is number one on the palette but close yet not too far behind is indeed that Cocoa and it appears thankfully to be more than happy to take a back seat. Right about here is where the acidity that is left in the wine really begins to as it is at a level this time where it goes great with all of the notes this wine has to put out. Let's talk black cherry now because this is another note that the wine presents very nicely and that I enjoyed. Here is another note that is more than happy to take a back seat to the notes already presented. As a matter of fact none of the notes here fight one another and each sip is consistent in their agreement as to who takes the lead and what the others purpose really is which is to act as support of sorts for the each other. If you want some tannins you are looking in the wrong place because while there is a note of Black Currant the tannins are for the most part non existent. If tannins are a must in a red wine for you then I have to advise you to look elsewhere. If however you will suffice with a Black Current note instead then you are in luck because this wine is full of that and in my book this is more then good enough. There was also an ever so slight background smoothness to the wine that I think was much needed and placed in just the right place here in this wine.
This wine is in some ways what I would consider to be a big wine and the bit of smoothness actually helps out. A spice that is not of black pepper but just as nice and just as in your face in apparent throughout the wines presentation. If you are thinking the wine is overly on the peppery side, don't be as that bit of smoothness manages to work it all out.
Well now it is that time, time to wrap this review up. After drinking this wine I want to lay out some points for you. Before I do however I would like to tell you that I very well might be biased. The Tempranillo is as I said indeed my favorite varietal and one that I gladly run to when I am looking for a red wine that is in your face, spicy and robust. To me there is no substitute however Cabernet Sauvignon can give it a run for its money.
By the way, in my opinion you can forget about the American version of Tempranillo, to me the Spanish have it down pat. Keep all this in mind as you read this review, Having layed all this out, here are my points that I would like to get across to you.
1) Both varietals as expected work nicely together.
2) As also expected the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal is dominated by the Tempranillo due to the very natures of there being more of the Tempranillo then the Cab as well as the very nature of both wines characteristics.
3) The Cabernet Sauvignon does influence the wine by presenting an underlying though nicely presented sense of smoothness & cocoa but this does not in any way deter from the Tempranillo.
4) Decant this wine for at least two hours.
On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I give this wine 91 (90–93 Excellent highly recommended, holds to varietal standards.) points. This is certainly not a bad wine, especially for the price.
The Desert Wine Guy
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