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Warm up with red wines.

Spain’s claim to fame: Tempranillo

When the weather gets cold, there is nothing better than a big, full-bodied, rich red wine to warm you up. A number of delicious wines from Spain fit these criteria. One grape variety hailing from Spain to keep a look out for is Tempranillo. This noble grape is used in many of Spain’s top wine regions, such as Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Tempranillo is an affordable option for red wine fanatics.
If your next meal includes a big slab of meat or something rich and heavy, Tempranillo is the way to go.
Spain also offers many tasty blends for the everyday wine drinker. Grapes such as Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Cariña are often found in Spanish blends. What I love about Spain is that you can find wines in the 10 to 15 dollar price range with great character and quality that taste more like a 20 to 30 dollar bottle. The producer or winemaker is important and I tend to be biased towards smaller producers. If you find a bottle and you have never heard of the winemaker, do not be afraid to try it. You only live once and most likely the wine will be worth checking out.
To increase your chances of finding such a deal, check out what your local shop has to offer from Spain and if they do not have any selections from this area, you might need to find a new shop!
When it comes to reading labels on the bottles, it can be confusing, so keep a look out for some of the names mentioned above and do not be afraid to ask your local wine merchant about their inventory.
Zinfandel’s twin brother:
Primitivo
In the United States, Zinfandel is a popular red grape grown in many states across the country (even Massachusetts), but its claim to fame resides in California.
Producing full-bodied, robust red wines, this grape was not always known as Zinfandel. In fact, it has an identical twin brother from Italy that goes by the name Primitivo. If you travel all the way south to the heel of Italy’s boot, you will find yourself in Puglia (aka Apulia), the home of Primitivo. This grape has been planted in this region since the 18th century, producing a range of affordable, full-bodied red wines with great character and complexity.
Primitivo is an underdog in the Italian wine world. Often overshadowed by other famous southern Italian grapes such as Aglianico, Primitivo has maintained a unique history. It is genetically equal to California’s Zinfandel as I mentioned before, but it is also genetically equal to a C r o a t i a n grape called C r l j e n a k Kaštelanski. The majority of grapes that produce wine keep their original name, even with varying wine laws across each country, but Primitivo is a grape with many names and a special identity.
Primitivo’s home Puglia produces the second most DOC wines in Italy right behind Piedmont. In 2010, Puglia finally achieved the top level DOCG status for one of their wines which was a Primitivo di Manduria. The achievement was bittersweet for some because the wine selected happened to be a sweet red wine instead of a more traditional dry Primitivo di Manduria which is a DOC wine. Either way, this was a much-deserved accomplishment for Pulgia’s wine region and I hope to see more strides in this direction in the near future.
If you look in the right places, you can find a bottle of Primitivo at a reasonable price. There are bottles on the market that go for 10 dollars, and others that go for closer to 30 dollars. A perfect match with steak, lamb, or pizza, Primitivo is a quality food wine and a great everyday wine to enjoy after a long day at work. If your a Zinfandel fan, I highly recommend searching for a bottle of Primitivo to get a greater sense of the grape and its place of origin.