La Compañia De Vinos Telmo Rodriguez Dehesa Gago “g” Cosecha 2008

Toro DO, Castilla-Leon, Spain

$20-24 *Available in select private liquor stores +586008

I am often asked for good ‘value’ wines. Here are a couple of leads. 1 – Pick a very reputable premium producer, and try their lower tiers, as most often the care is extended throughout the program. 2 – Pick a lesser-known region on our market, where unknown geography equals lower prices on the shelf. This wine fits both of those criteria, and tastes way beyond its $20ish price. Telmo Rodriguez (or T-Rod, as his groupies know him) is a young, passionate Spanish winemaking pioneer – crafting terroir-driven wines from unique vineyards across his country. Instead of the “flying winemaker” moniker, he calls himself a “driving winemaker”, crisscrossing Spain via autopistas.

“g” refers to the wild bulls (gago) in the rugged and newly revitalized (thanks to T-Rod) Toro region, and the rustic, windy, dry countryside is woven in the wine.  Ripe dark cherries and wild mushrooms in the nose lead to a meaty palate of baked fruits, dusty stone, black pepper and herbs. Heady and hearty, with a long old wood-fig finish. Open this savory and seductive 100% Tinto de Toro (Tempranillo) with roasted game and wild mushrooms. No oak was used in the aging of this big red, allowing the vivid and complex fruit to charge.

Flying Winemaker is a common term in the wine world, coined by the Aussies to describe vintners who create wine in both the southern and northern hemispheres – effectively giving them two harvests per year.  The term is now also used for continent-hopping consultants a la Mondovino’s Michel Rolland.

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