Wines I'm Drinking: 2008 Bodega Uno Torrontés

The wines of Grocery Outlet are always a gamble. The white wines in particular can be disappointing, especially when they are older than what is probably ideal. This 2008 Torrontés from Argentina's Bodega Uno seems on the cusp of acceptability. I'd like to taste a bottle of it fresh. I suspect it was more interesting when younger. Actually, It's interesting even now, but it seems past its prime. Having said that, I enjoyed it enough to want to go get a few more bottles for everyday summer quaffing. Unfortunately the delicious Solambra Torrontés Reserva disappeared from my local store after I bought a single bottle. I had wanted to go back and buy a case. If your Grocery Outlet still has the Solambra wine, I'd recommend it over this one, but the Bodega Uno Torrontés is not without its charms. Brief tasting notes follow.

Medium to pale gold. Interesting nose. Immediately put me in mind of pine resin or turpentine--which is not quite the condemnation it might seem. Suggestive of a light retsina. I also got pear scents and a distinct aroma of spearmint. None of these are scents I've ever associated with the Torrontés grape. That and the slightly oxidized, sherry-like scent are the give-aways that this wine is probably over the hill. Still, not entirely unpleasant. On the palate the wine is resiny but with good acidity and it has a little grip on the mid-palate. The sherry-like character is present here, but not excessive. At 13.5% alcohol, the wine seems a little hot, and there is something about it that put me in mind of a Poire William eaux-de-vie--something brandy-like. The palate, like the nose, makes me wonder what this wine would have tasted like when it was a little fresher.

I can't quite recommend the 2008 Bodega Uno Torrontés, but I can't quite dismiss it either. If you have a taste for mature whites or like dry sherries, you might find this an acceptable, inexpensive summer wine ($3.99 at the Santa Rosa Grocery Outlet), but buy the Solambra first, if you can find it.

(I have no financial connection with any producer or retailer of wine.)

Plants I'm Growing: Cactus Flowers (May 8, 2012)

Not technically in my own garden, but across the street in the rock park we live by, the first week of May usually brings a spectacular show of cactus blossoms. This year has been no exception. Yesterday, there must have been several hundred flowers open at once. The honeybees love these flowers for their copious pollen. People love them simply because they are so extravagantly big and eye-catching.