I bought this bottle a while back and got drunk and forgot to open it. So it sat around for about a week. I opened it the other night after Fiona and I shared a bottle of Gavi. I wasn’t overwhelmed initially. It was good, but I’d had better. But, there was something about it. It took a couple of glasses to figure out what was going on, and it kinda freaked me out.

A quick disclaimer. I’m not a wine and food pairing person. Being a beer drinker for so many years conditioned me for drinking first, then eating. After all, beer is quite filling on it’s own. Add a meal on top of a six pack, and there’s no room left to continue drinking. At a typical Weezer barbecue, food would not be served until I was done drinking. People were so hungry that they loved whatever I served them.

Things have changed a little now. It’s relaxing to have a nice bottle of wine with a tasty meal. We have several BYOB restaurants around town that we enjoy. I’ll save a bottle to open up with a nice steak or fish that I’ve grilled. But give me three or four glasses before the food is ready and my dinner is coming home in a doggy bag. I’ll drink my dessert, please.

That’s what amazed me about the Rioja. As I dove further into the bottle, I craved something to eat with it. Namely, a steak and some pasta. There was this spicy taste to the wine that cried out for food. It was like dancing the tango by yourself. This Rioja needed a partner, and unfortunately, I had nothing but frozen pizza and chicken chunks to offer as companions.

I made pasta last night and thought about that bottle of wine. I wasn’t really in a drinking mood, but it would have been nice to have a glass of the Glorioso around to test my theory. I’m sure it would have been good. Maybe next time.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Wine Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.