Vino y Chocolate (Wine and Chocolate)

Valentine’s Day is just three days away and multitudes of people are scrambling for just the right dinner reservation, dozen of roses, chocolate, and/or wine. Well, let me make this easy for you – at least in part! This week’s Wine of the Week just happens to be the perfect match for you and your sweetie. The 2007 Numanthia Termes has recently been released and will score you some big points – just as the wine has by the critics. 

This wine hails from the Toro D.O. which is situated along the Duero River. The region experiences vast differentials in seasonal as well as daily weather and little rainfall. This makes for some BIG, high alcohol red wines. Toro’s vineyards are more than 3/4 Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) and the vines from Numanthia are traditionally quite old – up to 150 years old in some places. 

The 2007 Termes was a wonderful surprise for me. I have loved the last three vintages but have normally found that I needed to wait a while before they released their true character. The great thing about the 2007 is that you can drink this wine now. It will, of course, evolve over the next few years but opening this wine an hour or two before you are ready to drink it will pay big dividends. In the glass, this wine is a deep red and exudes aromas of ripe fruit – blackberry and boysenberry. On the palate this wine is certainly true to Toro character exhibiting similar flavors along with chocolate and tobacco notes. Chewy tannins and light acidity keep you coming back for more of this incredible wine. This wine retails for around $20-$25.

So, for Valentine’s Day I am opening this wine and serving it with dark chocolate raspberry truffles. I cannot imagine a better wine right now to serve with these luscious morsels. Thank God Monday is a holiday (at least for us here in the U.S.) as I am sure I will be gorging myself on both vino y chocolate the night before and will need a day of rest!