Wine: 2002 Torres Coronas (3.50 Stars)

We picked this up as a one-time buy at Sam's for less than $7.50 and decided to give it a try. I felt good about the purchase when I scanned some websites and found it generally sells for $10 from wholesale vendors and as much as $37.50 in this restaurant.

Torres' Coronas wine is from the Catalonia region of Spain and is based Spain's traditional Tempranillo variety (86%), blended with (14%) Cabernet Sauvignon. Torres website has a nice page that focuses on the grapes..

I picked up some blackberry and maybe some liquorice. We both wondered if we got some coffee taste, but I wonder if that was the truffles and our palates aren't refined enough to identify the truffles. I didn't get as much fruit and berry as the vineyard promotes. The tannins had touches of smoke and spices, but I felt some edge in the after taste of my first glass. After the first glass, the edge had evolved into a more enjoyable spice & pepper taste.

Torres wines has a great website with lots of information.

Additional Note:
===> The 1999 vintage received a great rating and was praised from Winesontheweb.com.

"A charming wine for its price. Torres Coronas Tempranillo has quite a healthy, mid-ruby colour and a slightly spicy bouquet with hints of cherries. These are confirmed along with summer fruits on a very smooth well-balanced palate, with well-integrated American oak before it leaves a lingering fruit-laden finish."