When Dave at Mission Wines in South Pasadena told me this wine was HUGE - I though - GREAT! I like modernista style Spanish wines. But wow! The 2005 Pago Florentino ($20.99) IS HUGE. It's from Vino de la Tierra de Castilla, an area that is comprised of 1.4 million acres. That's 6% of the world's vineyard area!!!! CRAAAZZYYY!
This wine is not for the faint of heart. It's intensely extracted and super-oaky. Their website says the wine has spent a combination of 8 months in French and American oak (it does not say anything about barrels in particular), I'm thinking maybe they used oak chips as opposed to barrels and perhaps that's why it smells like vanilla cake batter. Something about the over-the-top creamy, vanilla, butterscotch, caramel quality combined with smoky flavors (perhaps from the heavy toasting?) makes it a dead ringer for Aussie Shiraz. It would be great for dessert! Or for all you oak lovers who love a sweet round mouthfeel.
P.S. The gold Urn in the background holds my cookbooks up, but it also holds the ashes of my childhood dog, Sniffles. A moment of silence please. May he RIP.
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