Sister knows I like wine so she bought a bottle of Spanish Red Wine – Caballito De Mar Tempranillo Merlot for me. I enjoy having a glass of wine at home to unwind after a busy day. I am new to the world of wine but this wine tastes really, really good. This is the wine for people that know nothing about wine.

Tempranillo Merlot

Caballito De Mar
Vintage: 2011
Grape varieties: Tempranillo Merlot
Vineyard: Cariñena Denominación de Origen (DO)
Producer name and location: Abrera. S.A. R.E. 50/42540
Embotellado Por Abrera S.A.
(Alfajarin – Espana) En Mezalocha
Product of Spain
13.5% Alchohol
750ml
Contains sulfites

Caballito De Mar is an attractive young coupage blend of the French grape variety Merlot and the Spanish Tempranillo. The wine shows bright cherry colour with nuances of ruby. The aroma provides fresh fruit characters, while the palate displays a medium bodies fruit-driven style, suitable for meats, rice, pastas, cheeses and tasty “tapas”. Best serving temperature: 12°C-14°C.

Tempranillo Tasting Notes

• Caballito De Mar is Spanish meaning Sea Horse, the brand of this wine.
• Tempranillo is a variety of black grape widely grown in Spain.
• Merlot is the most commonly grown grape variety in France.
• Cariñena is a Spanish Denominación de Origen (DO) for wines located in Cariñena, Aragón, Spain.
• Denominación de Origen is part of a regulatory classification system primarily for Spanish wines – a mainstream grading, equivalent to the French AOC and the Italian DOC. Products labelled Denominación de Origen, apart from being of superior quality, are expected to carry specific characteristics of geographical region or individual producer and be derived from raw materials originating within the region. Like most of these designations, a fundamental tenet of a DO label is that no product outside of that region is permitted to bear the name.
• Sulfites occur naturally in all wines to some extent. Sulfites are commonly introduced to arrest fermentation at a desired time, and may also be added to wine as preservatives to prevent spoilage and oxidation at several stages of the winemaking. Sulfur dioxide (SO2, sulfur with two atoms of oxygen) protects wine from not only oxidation, but also from bacteria. Without sulfites, grape juice would quickly turn to vinegar. Organic wines are not necessarily sulfite-free. In general, sweet (dessert) wines contain more sulfites than dry wines, and some sweet white wines contain more sulfites than red wines.