Marques de Riscal

don't worry the gold wire is easy to cut through
A tale of Christmas-Past -- Our "Brooklyn Connection", Karolina, once bought us a bottle of Marques de Riscal Reserva Rioja 2000 ($-$$). It was the holidays, and as most, she was tapped out cashwise when it dawned on her that she would be visiting with the ECW crew. She went to Uva Wines in Brooklyn (no relation) and told the salesperson she needed a wine that would impress wine snobs, but didn't cost much. Her first mistake was to assume we were full-fledged snobs, her second was to introduce us to this wine. Since that Christmas, we have probably had this wine at least 50 times, and there is always a bottle in the rack.
This wine, a Tempranillo blend, is grown in the Rioja region of Spain. Tempranillo and Graciano y Mazuelo (grenache) grapes produce wines that age very well in wood. The result is a structure with mellow tannins (still not for you dry-haters). Blackberries, figs, black pepper can be found after the initial tannin-shock.
The bottle itself is wrapped in a thin gold wire, really just a novelty, that makes it at least look cool on the rack. The winemaker boasts a collection of medals from the late 1800's, although the vines for the current vintages of Marques de Riscal are only about 20 or so years old.
Definitely worth trying, especially at the price point.