Lincoln Square in Chicago has a surprisingly dense population of wine shops. There’s the Chopping Block, where I work, Gene’s Sausage Shop, Leland Liquors, Cardinal Wine and Spirits, and, my favorite wine shop in the area, Augusta Food and Wine. As much as I may enjoy the wine selection at work, Augusta does a far better job of curating their list and I find new things every time I go in. I would go so far as to say it’s one of the best wine shops in Chicago.
I was looking for something to review and I’d already hit the other shops in the neighborhood, so I decided to check out Augusta. Despite how much I like the shop, they don’t stock a lot of the counter-culture wines that I’ve come to love. No, Augusta is the place you go to find well made wines from mainstream locations. If you want sustainably produced wines that avoid the use of things like Mega Purple, Augusta is the kind of place you should be shopping.
As I’m building content for the site with these early posts, I wanted something from Spain to fill out the map and I needed a Garnacha Tinta for the Wine Guide. So, this bottle enabled me to cross two things off my to-do list, it didn’t hurt that it was a full 1L of wine at a very reasonable price. In fact, I probably would have been skeptical of this bottle at a different store, what with the flashy front label and all, it seemed too good to be true.
Hand Work Garnacha comes from Castilla La Mancha, Spain. Despite La Mancha being a Spanish appellation, I find no reference to a Denominación de Origen, anywhere on the label. However, there are three certifications on the back label: Demeter Biodynamic Certified, Vegano by the European Vegetarian Union, and USDA Organic. As well as an icon indicating this wine is a T. Edward (the importer) exclusive. According to the T. Edward, Hand Work is produced by three brothers who seek to, “celebrate their home of La Mancha by raising organically and biodynamically grown grapes.” The Parra Jimenez (the grower) website goes into a lot more detail on their sustainability practices, but, interestingly, I find no reference to this line of wines, I suspect this is due to it being exclusive to T. Edward.
This was one of those wines whose aroma was so fascinating I hesitated to drink it, I just walked around the apartment smelling my glass. I’ve heard people describe wines as meaty in the past, but I usually write that off as one of those terms that people use when they don’t know what else to say. People have used that term to describe such a broad selection of wines that the description has become almost meaningless for me. My understanding is that it’s supposed to serve as both a description of viscosity and flavor/aroma combinations, but I’ve never had a wine that actually tasted like meat… this wine tasted like meat. Specifically, it tasted like fruit with hints of steak marinated in Worscestershire sauce. Great complexity, great flavor. I couldn’t stop drinking it.
I’ve had great experiences with Garnacha (Grenache) blends from the Southern France, but I haven’t had as much luck in the grape’s native country of Spain. I knew there had to be great Spanish Garnacha wines out there, but I’ve been hesitant to really explore them after some lackluster purchases. This confirms my suspicions and makes me look forward to future purchases.