A few days ago I disembarked from a massive Airbus A380, and was back in the familiar gridlock of afternoon traffic on the beltway.  But Friday night out with some friends solidified my happiness of having returned from another winery internship.  I am stoked to be back and in love with D.C. once again.

Happy hour Sapporos and fries with truffle oil and parmesan at Mie n Yu (www.mienyu.com) was a great way to start off down in Georgetown.  Then I headed over to St. Ex (www.saint-ex.com) to meet my friend Tania for a pre-dinner aperetif.  Estadio was packed so we decided to let the restaurant gods guide us to whatever happened to turn up next, and a few blocks up 14th, we came to Cork wine bar (www.corkdc.com) where a bottle of '09 Juan Gil Monastrell (Spain, Jumilla DOC) and some deliciously crafted small plates helped us keep warm beside their heaters outside...

Later we headed over to Dupont to share a bottle of '05 Millbrandt Merlot with a few other friends.  This Columbia Valley wine has the chocolate and dark plum that great Washington State merlots are known for.  Elegant, full-bodied, and with a fantastic sense of balance between fruit and tannins, it accompanied our cheese plate perfectly, in particular complimenting the creamy texture of the Brillian Savarin.  Anyone who wants to have a great time in a relaxed, unpretentious wine bar, head to Veritas (www.veritasdc.com) and if dancing and drunken revelry is what you're after following a bottle or two, just head to the Russia House for a Moscow Mule!

After 10 weeks in a medieval village in the French Rhône-Alpes, where the average age of the 450 is about 65 years old, I am so excited to get back into happy hours, Maryland in the fall, the electricity in the air on U St. and in Adams Morgan, even the low-lit whisky and craft beer atmosphere of the Quarry House in Silver Spring... It feels great to be home!
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So I was eeny-meeny-ing through the bottles at home, and decided to open a bottle of Bodegas Castaño Hécula.  This is a wine comprised 100% of Monastrell, a.k.a. Mourvèdre grapes.  The region that it comes from -Yecla - is in Murcia, in the southeast of Spain, with two stellar winemaking D.O.s as its neighbors: Jumilla and Almansa.  These vines dig deep through limestone and gravel, and their efforts produce very concentrated flavors in the grapes at harvest time.  The 2005 vintage in this area wasn't exceptional but this wine is excellent.  
Its color is a deep reddish purple.  The raisin, dark cherry, and blackberry aromas on the nose yield to deeper layers of cedar, resin, and stone.  The mere act of smelling this wine brought up memories of putting resin on a violin bow as a kid, of walking into a woodshop, of eating fruit rollups. 
Even though this wine doesn't have much of a finish, it has substance and elegance.  The tannins are soft, yet pronounced.  There is a hint of spice.  The stony soil in which the vines grow even imparts a cool mineral feel to the taste and body of this wine.
This is a great bottle of wine...90-91 points and only $12 to $14.
The more I try the wines from Murcia, the more I feel compelled to go visit.  If you could visit one winemaking region in the world, where would you go...and why?
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This bottle delivers a well made 100% Monastrell  (a.k.a. Mourvèdre) that is soft and elegant.  I picked this up a few days ago a Circle Wine in Chevy Chase for $18.  Really I had to get a wine from the Murcía region of Spain in honor of my friend Do's birthday.  This just so happens to be one of her favorites.
This wine's color is a rich, regal hue of purple.  The nose is dominated by earthy and stoney scents.  When I sniffed it first it reminded me of being in a cellar or a used book store.  The berry and anise aromas it has are subtle and quite inviting, too.
In the mouth this wine is fresh.  The minerality picked up on the nose definitely carries over into the flavor profile.  There's a hint of dark chocolate and berry, and plenty of acidity.  I've tried some Monastrells or Mourvèdres with more body and tannin (especially some of the French wines from the Bandol region), but I enjoy this bottle a lot.  For my palate it finds itself right on the B+/A- threshold.  If you're a fan of Côtes du Rhône wines, I think you would like this wine. 
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