Mapema 2003 Argentina Tempranillo

I once again found myself spending part of my evening hanging out at Tuscany Market. It’s kind of on the way home and too convenient. The place is only a bit over a year or so old, but seems to be undergoing a kind of reorganization. They’ve reduced the number of prepared foods in refrigerated cases and have eliminated the big ‘fridge with all the white wines and beers & cheeses completely. They seem to otherwise be doing a bang-up business, so I’m guessing this has more to do with reducing the ‘market’ part of their business to rearrange and focus on the stuff that seems to be their best offerings – wine and beer sales along with pizzas and sandwiches.

Anyway, under recommendation of a friend, I had some of this Mapema Tempranillo last night along with one of their great cheese pizzas. I usually expect to find more good value priced stuff (i.e. around $10 or less) from Argentina wines but this came in at $17 and was beginning to creep out of the ‘value’ range in my humble opinion. Nevertheless, I really liked this wine. Very dark and hearty fruit with lots of black cherry and berry fruit. Balanced and not very tannic. It worked well on its own and with the pizza.

Price

About $17 (Austin – Tuscany Market)

Overall

Dark and fruity. Evenly balanced and great sipping on it’s own.

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