Today finds us back in Spain and specifically in the DO Bierzo which is located in the worthwest of Spain in the province of León. It is located in a mountainous region but the area contains numerous small valleys and a   microclimate that is great for viticulture. It is from this region that Vinos de Arganza produces the Flavium Bierzo Crianza. To break down this name, Flavium is the wine label, Bierzo is the Region and Cianza is the specific style of wine which is governed by specific rules from the DO. In this case, a Crianza must be aged at least 6 months in oak and 18 months in the bottle.

For those of you wondering, the varietal of grape this wine is made from is Mencia. At one time it was thought that Mencia was an ancestor of the Cabernet Franc grape. Alas, DNA testing shows that it is not related to Cab Franc at all and that it is actually identical to an obscure Portuguese varietal. Or should I say that the Portuguese varietal is identical to it. In either case, this wine is made from 100% Mencia grapes.

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Every weekend my local wine retailer does tastings. I'm not always available for these, but I try to catch as many as I can. A couple of weeks back they were tasting the Brassfield Estate Winery Volcano Ridge Eruption. My first thought was that they need to come up with a better name because that is quite the mouthful. My second thought was, who am I to say anything, I would call a wine "Stanky but Tasty". As you can tell, I'm not a marketing genius by any stretch of the imagination.

This wine is a 2005 vintage and is a blend of 69% Syrah, 18% Mourvedre, 5% Grenache, 5% Petite Sirah, and 3% Other. This wine is a beautiful deep purple in color with just a touch of transparency. When you first take a smell of this wine there is a strong odor of alcohol which isn't totally surprising as it is listed as 14.3%. The next smell let's you sneak a peek behind the curtain to the plum and black cherries that linger there. On the palate you can taste those black cherries with a hint of green pepper and a touch of lingering smoke.

This wine was very tight when first opened, it needed to be decanted and let sit for at least an hour before it opened up. The results were worth the wait though as this medium bodied wine was a delight to drink after that point.