Let's Get Tasting!

Congratulations, you've received your wine! Be sure to remove the outer packaging sleeve on your box and trim on the dotted-line to reveal your March Madness tasting mat. When you're ready for your tasting experience, scroll down to access the virtual tasting videos and additional wine details.

march madness tasting: Bold round 1

Jaspi Negre

Producer: Coca i Fitó
Region: Montsant DO, Spain
Grapes: Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon

Ripe red and black fruits, herbaceous notes and spice and soft velvety tannins for structure. The fruit flavors in this wine are deep in color but still tart, sort of like how a nice pour over coffee can be both tart and robust. Cherries, raspberries, pinch of balsamic and a little white pepper.

Grilled seafood, blue cheese, oxtails over rice

march madness tasting bold round 1

Estola Gran Reserva

Producer: Bodegas Ayuso
Region: La Mancha
Grapes: Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon

Earthy vanilla and ripe blackberry and plum are framed by cigar box like spice and sweet hints of toffee and nutmeg. At almost a decade old, this true Reserva wine drinks with complexity and grace.

crock pot roasts, mature cheeses, mole sauces

When, in 1947, Fermín Ayuso Roig decided to found his own winery in Villarrobledo, an ideal location due to its climate and soil, he began a family tradition in vine-growing and wine-making that has made Bodegas Ayuso a reference of the highest quality and solidity in the market. In 1961, the winery began the commercialization of bottled wine after setting up cellars with Bordeaux-type oak barrels, which would become the first ageing facility in the region.

march madness tasting: bold round 2

Vigne Blanche

Producer: Domaine d'Escausses
Region: Gaillac, France
Grapes: Braucol, Duras, Syrah

Winemaker Jean Marc likes to describe this wine in one simple word: rouge. Tough to argue when the wine is such a deep, deep garnet color boasting intense scents of red fruits and whiffs of vanilla tinged berries. There's a bramble twig undergrowth note in there along with some spicy hints from the wood aging. The mouthfeel is full and structured with melty tannins and plenty of sapid "rouge" flavors.

Red meats, chorizo, runny cheeses, gratin of potato or root vegetable

Jean Marc and his Daughter Aurélie produce all of the wines. Jean Marc focuses on the reds and whites while Aurélie's passion lies in her rosé project, Château L'Enclos des Roses.

march madness tasting: bright round 1

Nebbiolo

Producer: Costa Catterina
Region: Piedmont, Italy
Grapes: Nebbiolo

A brighter expression than you'll find in the long aged Barolos. Although still aged in the same big casks, but for only 24 months, the wine displays tart raspberry and fresh snipped flower scents and drinks with flavors of bright red fruits, cherries soaked in alcohol and hints of liqourice and forest floor bramble.

seasoned cheeses, spicy Asian cuisine, Grandpa's venison steaks, beef jerky

march madness tasting: bright round 1

L'India Negre

Producer: Pagos de Híbera
Region: D.O. Terra Alta, Spain
Grapes: Carignan, Grenache

Bright and dense red cherry. High intensity on the nose with red and black berry fruits present, backed by subtle hints of wood and spice. Full-bodied and fruit-forward with red currant and berry fruits, spice and developing notes.

Rice dishes with saffron, red meats, stew

Pagos de Híbera operates out of a Modernist cathedral in Spain known as the Catedral del Vi, designed by Cesar Martinel, a direct disciple of Antoni Gaudi whose famous works pepper the city of Barcelona.

march madness tasting: bright round 2

Básico

Producer: Tinedo
Region: La Mancha, Spain
Grapes: Tempranillo

Expressive and straightforward with blue flowers, violets, cherry licorice like Red-Vines and a hint of blood orange. Fresh finish with more fruit than tannin.

lamb burgers, iberico ham, fish in tomato broth