Condesa de Leganza - Rioja - 2003 Rosé and 1999 Crianza

Last night a friend and I had a fun little experiment: two bottles of wine, one a rosé, the other a crianza, both made by the same winery, both 100 percent temperanillo and from the La Mancha DOC.

Crianza is of course a Spanish staple, a long-aged and solid table wine made mainly of tempranillo grapes.

Rosé (from what this novice gathers, anyway) is kind of an odd bird for the region, which is mainly known for its red, and the occasional white.

We started with the rosé:

This was a simple wine, but very enjoyable. A deep rose pink, lovely scents of vanilla and caramel, sweet flowers or hay. The flavor repeated the vanilla and flowers in the nose. The wine was very drinkable and refreshing: nice and bright, very light-bodied, only a hint of sweetness (off-dry). ($8)

Then, the crianza:

Spicy smokiness, like barbecue, hickory or mesquite smoke. Raisins, figs, and lots of vanilla. Pipe tobacco. The finish sort of reminded me of the Maker's Mark bourbon whiskey I had the other day. Lots of tannic influence but remained refined and very mellow. You could really taste the oak and the age, in a good way. I was looking for a 'classic' crianza, not one of the more modern varieties that are more fruit-forward, and this was it. Very good. ($9)

We drank the wine with a hearty wheat bread full of seeds topped by a red bell pepper and herb cream cheese spread.

Odd bit of drinking trivia: according to a friend who has visited family in Spain, the kids there drink a mixture of red wine and Coca-Cola (1 part each) called 'Kalimocho'. Maybe I'll experiment the next time I end up with horrible plonk and I'm feeling adventerous...