Spanish Soiree Recap

The Summer Spanish Soiree at Cafe Luna on Monday, May 18 was a smashing success. To a sold out crowd we sniffed, swirled and sniffed our way through the Spansh countryside. As an added suprise, the folks at Cafe Luna busted out some of their signature pizzas at the end of the event as the live band started playing traditional Spanish music. Check out the list of fabulous wines we sampled below and stay tuned for more Second Glass events coming to Cafe Luna.

From Eric Solomon’s company, European Cellars come six awesome Spanish wines all for less than $20 per bottle – but you wouldn’t know it. Cool packaging and real, quality wine from Spain are what you expect when you get one of Eric’s wines. We tried six and the crew at Cafe Luna’s Summer Soiree LOVED ‘em.

	2008 Espelt Vailet – $13 Empordá, Spain 60% Garnacha Blanca, 40% Macabeo
	A crisp, light, easy drinking white wine. This is best described as somewhere between a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay minus any oakyness. Flavors of grapefruit with a tangy zip to it. Drink with shellfish.
	2007 Con Class Rueda – $10 *Rueda, Spain* 60% Verdejo, 25% Viura, 15% Sauvignon Blanc
	Rueda is Spain’s hot new region for white wines. With varying amounts of the grape, Verdejo, this wine has decent fruit flavors but retains a kickass acidity that makes any grilled, bbq’ed or even raw seafood/ shelfish come alive.
	2007 Artazuri Rosado – $10 Navarra, Spain 100% Garnacha
	A light rosé with nice fruit flavors that definitely finishes dry. The crowd was split on this one, with half of the people absolutely loving it (including this host!) and the other half taking a pass. At only $10 a bottle, it’s worth taking a shot. Drink this with lightly flavored meats, chicken or seafood.
	2007 Evodia Garnacha – $12 *Calatayud, Spain* 100% Garnacha
	We called it back in March in one of our Wine of the Weekends – this wine will definitely make our Top 10 Wines of the Year list. Silky smooth but full of fabulous fruit aromas and flavors, this wine goes like water. Drink it with a burger, class things up with a steak, it doesn’t matter. The price tag keeps it in the daily drinking circle but the taste makes you want to bust out the fine china. I don’t care who you are or what you like, buy this wine! You won’t regret it.
	2005 El Vilosell – $18 *Costers del Segre, Spain* 50% Tempranillo, 25% Cabenet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 5% Syrah
	Old World meets New World with a half Tempranillo, half international grape blend that has a fantastic nose! It’s got body and it’s got a whole lot of intense, spicy fruit flavors. Drink with a quality burger or nice cut of beef.
	2005 Castaño Hécula – $10 *Yecla, Spain* 100% Monastrell
	From the hot lands of Yecla comes a big, juicy, fruity but incredibly dry monster! This is a wine you’ll want to drink with the largest, rarest cut of beef you can find. Look out BBQ master, the Monastrell from Yecla’s coming!