Weekly Winedown #29 Altozano Tempranillo Syrah

Welcome to the Weekly Winedown. Each week I selflessly drink wine for you and offer a review.
Please don’t expect anything professional, I consume a lot of wine but I’m no pro.

The only real ‘rule’ I’m putting in place is that the wine is to be under £8 a bottle. #keepitclassy.

Happy New Year!

Reader, it’s been three weeks since my last winedown, I have sinned.
To be fair, I declared back then that I needed a break so I took a bit of a step back from blogging over Christmas.
Not QUITE the break I had hoped for, but one less thing to fret about was liberating.

Now order is restored and I am back to grace your eyes with my thoughts.
And wine.

This week I have a Spanish red. I am quickly running out of reds to try from Ocado.
Altozano Tempranillo Syrah is currently on offer at £6.74.
£6.74, what a random price.
It is what it is though.

The Label

A Neutral colour with red and black text. Very simple and unoffensive, nothing to shout about though. I originally thought they little picture on it was an acorn. Further inspection leads me to believe it might be a helmet or something? No idea.

The Blurb

The top bit of the blurb was written in Spanish.
“Oh how exciting” I thought. Then I Google translated it and I realised it said exactly the same underneath in English. I can’t help but think it’s showing off with it’s bilingual skills.
“Juicy red cherries, ripe plums and warm spices burst from this delicious blend of Tempranillo and Syrah with subtle hints of oak from cask ageing. You can enjoy this smooth and fruity wine on its own or as the perfect match to succulent roast meats and rich pasta sauces.”

It sounds more interesting in Spanish to be fair.
Though plums, spices and a hint of oak sound like a jolly good blend to me.
I always find it interesting when they ‘match’ wine with a food.
Especially when it’s as vague as ‘roast meats’.
Roast chicken tastes entirely different to roast beef. I should imagine that roast venison taste different to those.
Does the wine maker truly believe this wine will go with all those equally or are they hedging their bets?

This really is a pointless discussion for me to be having as I don’t have one roast meat, never mind a variety to test out this claim.

Anyway.
Onwards!

Hmmmmm.
The nose (oh yes) is very plummy with a hint of cloves. Not a bad start!
The taste. Well. It’s very tart, like unripened plums with an aftertaste of pepper.

I wouldn’t say it was vile but it’s not entirely pleasant.
As a frugal Yorkshire woman, I’m going to finish the bottle but I won’t be buying this again.

Name – Altozano Tempranillo Syrah.
Price – £6.79
Colour – Beautiful – like a blood red.
Smell – Plums and cloves.
Taste – Tart and peppery
Goes well with – Dinner parties with those you want to leave early.
Overall score – 1.5/5