2006 Cepa 21 Ribera del Duero - which I think loosely translates to I have a really short attention span...

Ok, so I'll admit it, maybe I have attention deficit disorder, or maybe it's not a disorder at all, but just a fun part of being me, being totally distracted by the latest shiny object!  Take yesterday, a perfect example of me being distracted by shiny objects multiple times!  I went out for lunch to pick up sandwiches at the Grand Central Market on Monroe Center in Grand Rapids.  Well, this market offers great sandwiches and a nice selection of natural products, and a wonderful wine selection.  So as I am waiting for the kind folks in the deli to make my sandwich, I browse the wine and see a Snoqualmie Whistle Stop Red, DING DING DING!  Shiny object #1, a combo of two of my favorite things, trains (it has a nice grade crossing signal on the label)and a nice red wine from Washington State (did you know that March is Washington wine month?).  So I learned that Grand Central has a March Madness sale going on and all wines are 10% off in March, so WINNER! A nice Washington Wine for under $10!

Went back to my office, finished lunch and then just before I was getting ready to leave for the weekend, I got an e-mail from G.B. Russo's in Grand Rapids about an unannounced sale!  DING DING DING!!!  Shiny object #2!  Wow!  A 2006 Riscal Tempranillo from Spain closeout for only $3.49! And a 2008 Gru Montepulciano D'Abruzzo from Italy closeout for only $2.99!  I can't afford not to drive out there after work and buy a couple cases!  Then as I am at Russo's, I get a call from some friends up north in Rockford and they are making some dinner and want to play this card game called "Dominion" that our other friend introduced us to a few weeks ago (it's really quite addictive), so I go home drop off the groceries and race up to Rockford for a late dinner (so much for celebrating Washington Wine month!)  At any rate, I did open a bottle of the closeout Tempranillo and it was very nice despite having a screw cap, bur more on that in a future posting!

So, after all that, our wine for this evening is the 2006 Bodegas Cepa 21 Tempranillo Ribera del Duero, which I am finishing tonight (I bet you couldn't see this one coming!).  This is a really nice tempranillo, quite dry with a beautiful deep purple color that sits heavily in the glass.  The nose presents a heavy scent of leather with a hint of chocolate and berry.  The taste is somewhat fruity, with hints of cherry and cassis, but still quite dry with a pleasant finish.  I had this wine tonight with leftover corned beef and cabbage from St. Patrick's Day, so at the very least you can call it versatile, but I think it would go quite well with a rare grilled steak with some grilled veggies and olive oil as well.  Of course it's not after dinner and I'm quite enjoying my final glass all by itself.  This bottle I bought from wineshopper, and I think I got it for $22 which is a little pricey in my opinion.  The wine itself I would probably rate higher, but given the price I would downgrade this one to an 8 (though I'll note that others have rated it higher).

In the end, this post might have given you a taste of what ADD is like, or at least what it's like living a day in my world, handicapped by having the attention span of a gnat!