Soooo … I can explain. The past two weekends I was out-of-town. Both times. But I got my hands on some Spanish and Croatian reds while away. Bare with me, while I give you a bit of the back story. First weekend I drove down to Allgäu, the German Alps so to speak. I met my dear friend and climbing partner Perc there for an afternoon of climbing and an evening of catching up over some Ron Barcelo rum. We haven’t seen each other for about three years and somehow we managed to get together two weekends in a row. In two different countries at that. On Sunday evening Sabrina and I opened a Spanish Rioja we bought in Edeka, I believe. And it was quite decent. You can scroll down for my thoughts on the wine.
So this past weekend I drove down to Slovenia on a Friday to take my teenage brother to his first ever metal concert. With Silent Screams, The Word Alive and the one and only Asking Alexandria. It was pretty awesome, I must say. And I believe my little brother enjoyed himself as well. I mean, just look that silly grin on his face, when he got to have a picture taken with the guys from Silent Screams:
I must admit, I never heard of these guys before, but the concert was great, music was crazy powerful and when we spoke to them after the show, they were welcoming and open and genuinely down to earth. Just a nice bunch of dudes, really. I can say they have an avid follower/listener in me hence forth.
On Saturday I visited some of my relatives and some friends. Perc, Vita, their daughter Reka and the adorable dog Lan were on my list of people to visit. Reka was born in January and is just a tiny little human, who casually slept through the entirety of my visit. Catching up some more, mostly with Vita this time, Perc cracked open a bottle of the endemic Croatian red Plavac. It was amazing. Keep reading for a more detailed account.
Weekly Wine #9
El Coto Crianza 2012 Rioja
As mentioned before this wine was quite decent. The design of the label gave me this traditional feeling, which I haven’t decided whether I like yet or not. But like with books you really shouldn’t judge a wine by its label. Cracked it open, poured a glass and took a long hard sniff. Nothing. It needed to breathe a bit. On the second attempt the smell was fruity. Imagine holding a fist full of forest berries and crushing them together. That smell.
To me it tasted slightly acidic but still mild. The tannins weren’t overpowering in this medium bodied vintage. After swallowing the acidic aftertaste lingered for a while, but it wasn’t unpleasant. All in all a lovely and well-rounded red wine.
Verdict: 3,5/5
Weekly Wine #10
Plavac by the Winemakers of Croatia 2014
This was again a first for me. I have never heard of this sort of wine, let alone tried it. I didn’t take a very long time tasting and making notes I was focusing more on the conversations that we were having, so here are just the general cliff notes.
The smell was quite rich and reminded me a bit of cranberries. The taste was rather complex at first, but not overwhelmingly so and presented some mild tannins. The long lingering aftertaste also reminded me of forest berries.
The company made the wine even better! Sharing good wine with friends is what it’s all about.
Verdict: 4/5
P.S. If you like wine, or you are just starting to discover wine, you should check out Vivino. The source of inspiration when it comes to wine. Also, be sure to follow my profile there as well! 😉