I’m a sucker for a nicely presented bottle of wine and while I didn’t personally pick out this bottle, it fits the profile of wines I usually single out on a crowded shelf. It has a simple, but colorful label on a dark bottle with a cheetah in mid stride. The overall presentation is quite striking.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m not really fond of fruity wines and I was not real crazy about what my nose was telling me with this Shiraz. It smelled heavily of berries and had an aroma that told me this was going to be sweet. As is typically the case, my nose wasn’t exactly spot on in its assumptions, but it wasn’t far off either. The flavor was better than I expected, the palate was a little more fruity than woody, but not nearly as much as I expected it to be. The finish was pleasant and about as dry as I normally like my wines to be. Overall, the wine was a little “light” for my tastes, but not at all unpleasant.

This particular bottle of wine hails from the El Bierzo region in Spain. I had never heard of the region before, but I wouldn’t exactly say I was surprised to learn that it existed. According to regulations by the DO (Governing body of wine makers in Spain), Crianza wines must be aged a minimum of 6 months in oak casks and 18 months in the bottle.

Immediately upon opening the bottle I detected a rather strong, fruity aroma. I don’t really like my wines really dry and woody, but I’d rather have a tall glass of Welch’s grape juice than an overly fruity glass of vino. I poured two healthy servings for my wife and I and couldn’t help but notice the strong aroma of berries. I was growing concerned that I was not going to like this wine very much. Upon first taste, however, all of my fears quickly evaporated. The flavor contained an excellent balance between the fruity overtones of dark berry and yet had a nice amount of that woody, dry taste you expect from a good red. Overall, my wife and I absolutely loved the wine. We just couldn’t get over how balanced the taste was. It went down nice and smooth and had a nice even finish.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m not one to drop a whole lot of money down on a bottle of anything. I get the shakes whenever I reach for a quality single malt of more than $50 bucks and damn near hyper-ventilate when I buy a cigar for more than $8 dollars a stick. You can call me cheap if you want, but I haven’t got a lot of money to spend on luxuries these days. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this fine bottle of wine costs a whopping $10.00! I can honestly say that this is the best red I’ve had under $50, let alone $15.