Honoro Vera Garnacha

Hello Wine Lovers!
I've got to vent a little and I am going to use you as my sounding board... sorry. It is starting to drive me crazy that restaurants think they can pour you a "taste" of wine and charge you out the (insert word here that rhymes with glass) for it! There, I said it! Now let's cover a few details on what I mean by all this. I get the whole idea of pouring your wine in a small glass container and then serving you the glass empty and allowing you to pour as much or as little as you want in your very nice stemware. (I have yet to see this practice without nice glasses used) In the little glass container should be a 5 to 6oz pour, as should be any pour of wine whether it be served in a glass or in a small glass container for you to pour your own. Let me repeat myself... 5 to 6 oz! To my dismay this holiday season I continue to run across "nice" restaurants pouring you 4oz and STILL charging you as if they poured you the 6oz! I could understand if the prices were lowered, but they are not! It is insulting to my intelligence, and everyone else as far as that goes, that people in charge would make these decisions on a glass of wine! And then they wonder my more and more people choose to drink at home!
OK... I feel better! Now the wine. 2010 Honoro Vera Garnacha. At less than $8 this will floor you! You will find this wine to be complex with finesse and a mouthful of plum and cherry flavors with spice and tobacco on the finish. For the money, this would be one of my picks to stock up on! It is from the Calatayud Region near Barcelona. The soil is full of gravel and is not the best place to grow grapes, but the old vines used to produce this wine really did their job! It has a funky label that will spark dinner conversation. Spain is the third largest wine producing nation in the world, occupying the majority of the Iberian Peninsula with vast diversity in climate, culture, and of course, wine. From big, bold reds of the Priorat to dry, white Finos from Andalusia, Spanish wines are a great value. There are currently over 62 designated wine regions in Spain but only a few generate any recognition outside of Spain. Spain can also lay claim to having the most land under vine in the world, growing up to, by some accounts, 600 indigenous varietals of grapes. Tempranillo is their most well known and along with Garnacha are probably two grapes you have heard of. If you get the chance, don't pass on a trip to this wonderful country! You will find the people,food,and of course the wine, to your liking!

Cheers!
J