Torres Gran Coronas Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva
Vintage: 2003
Region: Penedés (Spain)
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: $13.99
At the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival, I had a chance to try one of the offerings from Spanish producer Torres in the form of the Gran Sangre de Toro, of which I was quite impressed with the taste and complexity it offered. During a recent trip to my local market, I spotted its sibling, the 2003 Gran Coronas Reserva in the bin end section and I decided to give it a whirl. It is listed on the label that it is a Cab Sauv, although it is blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Tempranillo from the Penedés region in Northeast Spain. Lately, I have found several very good wines from Spain at value prices and lately it seems like the number of offerings is expanding due to their high quality and affordable prices. Perhaps I can add this offering to the list of value superstars from España?
First impressions, this wine has a striking color presenting a rich dark garnet tone and on the nose it produced pronounced oak with some vanilla trailing. The first taste of this wine showed a full bodied old world styled red that was in my opinion, characteristically flawed. These flaws are the wine is tightly wound one dimensionally with the fruit masked behind dark somewhat bitter toasted charcoal tannins that were evident even after a reasonable amount of decanting. When I encounter a wine like this and the situation allows for it, I like to return the wine back to the bottle and revisit it a day or so later. The following day, this wine was slightly more approachable with that some dark fruit and some herbaceousness coming through on the nose and palate. Those tannins were still evident but were much more relaxed giving this wine a slightly balanced feel.
So, did the Gran Coronas Reserva make the list of inexpensive Spanish gems? Price wise, it makes the cut but its break point is that it was so unappealing on the palate initially. Due to the fact it was salvageable a day later earned it a few extra points but overall there are other value wines out there that are immediately accessible and taste great out of the bottle and are even better after decanting. I have to give this one a pass.
78 points
- Torres Gran Coronas Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva
- by Adrian Bryksa
- Published on November 12th, 2008
More from Adrian Bryksa:
-
MSTRKRFT with the Small Town DJ’s
These two chaps are technicians as evidenced by their ripping through their superbly crafted eclectic set. My toes were tapping and feet moving the whole time. They had some sound troubles but worked through them with ease.
-
Kendall-Jackson Jackson Estates Grown Cabernet Sauvignon
Holidays can bring a time of depression, especially when faced with the ugly truth that work is awaiting along with any salivating creditors to which ones holiday good times were funded.
-
Huber Grüner Veltliner Obere Steigen D.A.C.
This is an almost exclusive Austrian varietal that seems to fit in between Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc stylistically and sometimes exhibits some characteristics commonly found in Riesling. It sound like my kind of white.
-
Annie’s Lane Riesling
I love the versatility that Riesling offers from its potential presentation as a sticky sweet late harvest or as mouth-puckering dry example and all of the spots that it can occupy in between.
-
O Restaurant & Lounge revisited
Calgary has a diverse set of urban communities, most of which have the ubiquitous strip mall watering hole. In the South West community of Marda Loop, a reinvention of this paradigm has been established.
-
FAT Wreck Chords tour featuring NOFX
Easily the highlight of the set was the tour de force rendition of "The Decline", which is one of the best punk songs ever recorded in this writers opinion. The rest of the set was sonically outstanding, until one jackass from the crowd fired a full water bottle at the lead singer..
Other recent features:
-
Sónar 2010 – Barcelona, Spain
The festival attracts a lot of outsiders, but the Mediterranean, Spanish and more specifically Catalan nature of the people makes the festival what it is. Catalan people are passionate and this passion is infectious. The atmosphere is electric in Barcelona as a city and heightened by music and intoxicants at Sónar.
-
Summer Party Naval Styles at Seven RestoLounge
Oysters, like wine are affected by terroir and these Miyagi’s flavor profiles ranged with one showing a cleaner, almost tropical profile and the other being more salty, marine driven. As I was devouring the seemingly endless plates put in front of us, I sipped on a glass of fine sauvignon blanc.
-
R4NT Radio March 2010
R4NT Radio March 2010 um wow it’s been far too long since the last edition edition, featuring: Hector Hernandez, The Infesticons, Blockhead, Gramatik, Emika, Thunderheist, Parov Stelar, Eddy Meets Yannah, Anti-Pop Consortium, The Slew, Lighterthief, Andreya Triana, Parasyte Woman, Mathon, Venetian Snares, and Funki Porcini.
-
O Restaurant & Lounge revisited
Calgary has a diverse set of urban communities, most of which have the ubiquitous strip mall watering hole. In the South West community of Marda Loop, a reinvention of this paradigm has been established.
-
Predictions 2010.. and beyond!
So 2010 eh? Almost but not quite (no year zero they say) another decade? It seems like just yesterday that the world was waiting for Y2K. R4NT started publishing in March 2001, so we’re not quite 10 years old yet, but in internet years we are already a senior citizen.
-
Invictus
No matter what, the reality of Nelson Mandela is something that deserves screen time. Should this film even remotely intrigue the masses to take interest in this figure, the world would likely benefit greatly from it.
