1996 Siglo Rioja Crianza

[hotwine]

Needed a Spanish red for a new recipe she turned up, a crock-pot chicken thing that gets layered with Spanish rice, cheese, onion, dunno what else. Really tasty. Had picked up this Rioja for around $10 and figured it might be spot on for the dish, and indeed it was - wonderful fruit, mellowed out with just enough whiskers; good lipsmakin' finish, 12.5% alc/vol. Marred only by a weak cork that broke off the bottom half and couldn't be extracted with an ah-so... had to filter cork crumbs out with coffee filters. No harm done to the wine.