2016 Dinastia Manzanos Rioja Tempranillo

This week's wine is a Tempranillo from the Rioja region of Spain. My fiance got this bottle in his most recent NPR wine club shipment. It's a bit heavier and fuller-bodied than the reds that I typically pick out, but I really enjoyed it.

This wine is made on a family-owned estate vineyard. The Manzanos family grows the grapes and makes the wine. The family has been making wine for over 125 years, and the two brothers that are currently leading the winery are the fifth generation to run the family business. The vineyard is in the Rioja region, which is in northern Spain. The region is known for producing great Tempranillo wines, and this wine was very typical of that. The name Tempranillo comes from the Spanish word temprano, which means early. This grape ripens several weeks earlier than most Spanish red varietals. Tempranillo has a relatively neutral flavor profile, so it's often blended with other grapes from the same region. Wines that are labelled or called Tempranillo are often actually blends that are dominated by the Tempranillo varietal. This wine is actually a Tempranillo based blend and not a pure Tempranillo.

I drank this wine with my fiance, so I got his input as to the flavors and aromas that he tasted. It's common for two people to pick up slightly different scents and tastes in the same wine, so it was interesting to hear what he noticed that I didn't and vice versa. When I stuck my nose in my class of wine after swirling it around a bit I was struck by the dark, rich, luscious fruit aromas. I picked up plum, blackberry, and dark cherry, with a hint of black pepper at the finish. My fiance noticed similar dark fruit scents, but he said that the smell of apricot was stronger than the dark fruit scents. I didn't smell apricots at all, so I thought that was really interesting. After he said that I took a few more whiffs of the wine to try to pick up the lighter fruit scent, but all I got was notes of bright, fresh cranberry, but no apricot scent. When we tasted the wine the medium-strong tannins balanced out the fruity notes. I don't always like wines with strong tannins, I'm not a big fan of wine that you can practically chew, but this wine wasn't at that point, so I still really enjoyed it. I also picked up the tastes of vanilla and leather in the finishing notes. This was a bolder wine than I would usually pick, but I appreciated it because I had felt stuck in a bit of a rut with my lighter, airier reds lately.

We drank this wine with a hearty vegetable and potato stew and some homemade bread. Even though the stew was vegetarian, it was strong enough to stand up to the rich wine, and they paired together wonderfully. This wine would also go well with a meatier meal, such as pork chops or a lamb stew. This was a very good winter wine, the kind of wine that's better to drink while sitting next to the fireplace rather than on a patio in the afternoon, and it hit the spot that night.

Date Night In

During the winter, if I'm spending the day or night at home, I'll usually be wearing leggings and an oversized sweater or sweatshirt. I dress for comfort and warmth when I'm not out and about. However, I do try to put on some real clothes and do my hair and makeup if me and my fiance are having a date night in. We've started doing date nights at home more often ever since he moved and bought a house. He currently lives a couple hours away from me because of his job, and the town he lives in is not exactly a bustling city. It's a pretty rural area, and there's not much to do when I visit him, but he has a much larger kitchen that me, so we always cook a lot when I'm there. A few Christmases ago he got me a Date Night In cookbook that has various dinner recipes grouped by season. The recipes are for 3-4 course dinners, and they're designed for two people to cook them together. For each dinner, the author tells a sweet story about her and her husband. It's a great cookbook, and we've loved almost every recipe we've tried so far. It's the perfect cookbook for couples who like to cook together.

When I cook I like to be comfortable and unrestricted, so I paired some incredibly comfortable trouser pants with a dressed up tee shirt. I wrote about these J. Crew pants last week, when I wore them in a burgundy color. I love these pants so much that I have them in three colors, and here I'm wearing them in navy. They are made from stretch cotton so they're incredibly comfortable, but still very flattering. The pockets are zipper pockets along the front thigh, so they don't add extra weight to the hips, and they're big enough to fit an iphone in. They're nice enough to wear to work in an office setting, and comfortable enough to wear running errands. I can't say enough good things about these pants.

The tee shirt that I'm wearing is a classic nautical style. It's a blush, navy, and white 3/4 length sleeve boat neck tee shirt from J. Crew a few years ago. I own so much navy and white clothing, so the blush mixed in here adds a little something different. There's also three gold buttons along the left shoulder to dress up the simple shirt. This shirt is incredibly comfortable and flattering, and it looks great with the navy pants. I also wear it with jeans, and with white pants on a chilly summer night. It's one of those shirts that's just so easy to throw on without having to think about it too much. I also really like the 3/4 length sleeves, because it makes it very easy to wear a watch or bracelets with it.

I kept my jewelry relatively simple since I was just cooking at home. My watch is a Michele watch that I wear regularly. My fiance got it for me this Christmas to replace a very sparkly Michael Kors watch that I felt I outgrew. This watch still has some sparkles on it's face, but it feels more sophisticated and mature than my old watch. My fiance knows my style well, and knows that navy is my go to neutral color, so he did great picking out this watch and it goes with almost everything in my closet. I know that smart watches are becoming more and more prevalent, but I think that an elegant analog watch will never go out of style.

My earrings are also a Christmas gift from my fiance, but from our first Christmas together. They are Kate Spade pearl studs with a gold pave halo around them. I wear these earrings so much that the backing actually broke off and I had to get a replacement pair. Pearls are such a classic look, and these earrings go with everything. Whenever I wear jewelry that my fiance gave me, he always notices and compliments me, so I try wear his gifts on date nights to make them even more special. It's pretty easy for me to do that because he's so good at picking out things that fit my style.

Top: J. Crew a few years ago, similar from this season, similar from Tuckernuck and L.L. Bean.

Pants: J. Crew.

Watch: Michele Watches.

Earrings: Kate Spade.

Cookbook: Date Night In by Ashely Rodriguez.

Weekly-Window Shopping

J. McLaughlin Kipp Sweater

I love the sleeve detailing on the basic, classic crewneck sweater. It would be a great transition sweater into spring. I would keep it simple and pair this sweater with with dark wash skinny jeans and beige booties.

Brooks Brothers Red Fleece Lace Trimmed Striped Long Sleeve T-Shirt

Brooks Brothers recently released their spring line, and I am absolutely loving it, especially this tie. I'm a sucker for navy and white together, especially when it's stripes, and this lace detail adds an extra feminine touch to a classic t-shirt that I absolutely love.  

Kate Spade Cameron Street Large Lane

Something about a light beige and black two-tone bag is just so professional, timeless, and chic. I would love to carry this bag to work, brunch, or for a first date. It would add an instant confidence boost.

Vineyard Vines Bow Neck Stripe Knit Dress

More navy and white stripes, I can't help myself, there's a reason that this stripe combo is so prevalent, it's a classic. I love the neckline on this dress, it's so effortlessly chic. I feel like I should be sipping an espresso in a cafe in Paris while wearing this dress.

Tory Burch Ashton T-Strap Flat

If you told me that the only shoes I could wear for the rest of my life were Tory Burch shoes, I would not be the least bit upset. Tory Burch does shoes incredibly well, and these are no exceptions, they are absolutely darling. They have me wishing for spring so that I could pair them with a white sundress and stroll through the farmer's market on a sunny morning.