The El Terrano Rosado 2017 is a Garnacha Rose’ sold exclusively by Whole Foods ($9.99) sourced from 4 vineyards located near the town of Longares in the Carinena DO in the Aragon province of northeast Spain. This area has been producing wine since Roman times and Aragon is thought to be where the Garnacha grape originated. Grenache and Garnacha are the same grape, Grenache is the French spelling, Garnacha the Spanish. If you are interested in drinking the best quality inexpensive wines, Garnacha/Grenache is a grape that you must explore. The Southern Rhone Red wines feature blends of Grenache and Syrah (sometimes other grapes make it into the blend) that are wonderful wines and great values. If you go to the Spain aisle at your local wine shop you will find more 90 point wines near the $10 mark (mostly thanks to Robert Parker) than any other section and most of these are single varietal or blends featuring Garnacha. For some reason Grenache/Garnacha wines from California seem to priced outside the value wine price range. The El Terrano is a modern Rose’ produced in the Direct Press method and fermented and aged in stainless steel vats, which is the way most of the Rose’ in this price range are made. The alcohol level is 13%.
The color is on the amber side of pink. The nose is fresh red berries, strawberry hard candy, a little cinnamon spice, and faint bouquet of flowers. This is a medium-bodied Rose’ with solid acidity and a touch of minerality. It tastes of tart cherry, raspberry, and melon. The mid-palate offers soft black cherry and cranberry, along with a light slap of spice. The acidity solid, but subdued, it gets you licking your lips and reaching for another sip. The finish mirrors the body of the wine and sticks around for a decent length of time.
There is not much in Whole Foods (even with Amazon now owning the joint) that can be considered a value, but the El Terrano Rosado 2017 fits the bill. Ten bucks for a delicious Taste of Summer Garnacha Rose’ from a region that knows how to do Garnacha right. There are a million Rose’ wines on the store shelves to choose from this summer, it’s sometimes hard to choose the right one, since most are made the same way, in the same style. And the prices of Rose’ wine seem to be going upscale, as if you are really going to impress someone with your Rose’ selection. Ten bucks for a solid, refreshing, tasty Rose’ seems to be the sweet spot for me, you can spend more, but only because you want to, not because you need to.
Is El Terrano wine made in Spain, does
it have leavening agents in it. Does all wine
undergo a fermentation process? Do this mean that El Terrano have leavening agent
in it…?
Hello,
Yes, the wine is from Spain. It uses yeast for fermentation, but I am not sure that qualifies as a leavening agent. Wine is fermented grapes. El Terrano was fermented with yeast. I am no chemist, but I think leavening in baking and grape fermentation are the opposite of each other.