The Around $10 Wine Project: Lagranja 360 Tempranillo/Garnacha Blend Makes the Cut

From a large exporter based in a few key areas of Spain comes this little cheapie that I found at Trader Joe's, but which is  widely available around the world. 

I don't usually buy wines like this so how did I pick this? As I often do, I struck up a conversation with a woman looking at the same stuff I was looking at. I don't ever share what I do, just to make sure I can get uncensored opinions. It turns out she was a lovely French wine lover who wasn't at all shy about giving me her list of top wines. This made the cut and since it was $7, I couldn't say no. Not so bad!


The Wine: 2011 La Granja 360 (zebra label)

Grapes: 50% Tempranillo, 50% Garnacha

Price: $6.99

Alcohol: 13%

Where is it from?:  Strangely, the wine is from the Cariñena Denominación de Origen in Central/Northeastern Spain. This is the area from which the Cariñena or Carignan grape originates. But here red Garnacha (Grenache) and Tempranillo dominate the plantings. You'll find much more Carignan in southern France than here. A little irony of history. 

Color: A dried rose color, but that 50% Tempranillo component added a ton of pigment and even stained the glass on the swirl. It looked like a substantial wine.

Smell: Strangely, even though the alcohol was moderate by volume, the sniff burned my nose a little. Garnacha is a high alcohol grape and in my experience, even if moderated by Tempranillo or other grapes, that nose burn is usually present when the grape is a big proportion of the blend. Behind the burn there was a delicious raspberry, chocolate covered cherry smell, with some vanilla and caramel notes from oak or oak chips (wineries making cheap wine usually don't age them in oak barrels -- too expensive. They use oak barrel staves or wood chips as a "flavoring").


Taste: Those raspberry, vanilla, and chocolate covered cherry flavors carried through on the taste. It was a little dusty from the Tempranillo (like when you drive down a dirt road) and there was a pleasant black tea flavor after I swallowed. Despite a generally pleasing profile, with light tannins and good acid, the alcohol felt too harsh to make this a total home run. 

Drink or sink?: This is a very simple wine but good for weeknights and if you need a cheapie, it's not bad. Don't have it with spicy foods though -- that alcohol sensation will make them seem like a 5-alarm fire in your mouth! 

Have you had this wine? Leave a comment below, on Facebook or on Twitter and let me know what you think!