Guessing

When you walk into a wine shop without a pre-determined shopping list, you end up doing a lot of guessing...hopefully educated guessing!! You look at the region, the producer, the varietal, the label for ageing and tasting notes...and hopefully get something good, especially if it's expensive.
Today's wine (Emina, Ribera del Duero, 2003) is from an area in Spain that I generally like. The label looks like they spend some money on marketing and says that it is aged in a mixture of French and American oak for 12 months. On the nose it is promising with black fruit and smoky bacon notes. So far, so good. Unfortunately, once in the mouth it is surprisingly light - especially for that hot 2003 growing season - but initially lively. The liveliness doesn't last, though, the fruit finishes dull, like an overripe almost rotting black plum. This wine couldn't even stand up to a pork chop. And the next day it was almost undrinkable. This is an "OK" wine, don't waste your Saturday night with it. Definitely not worth the $20 it cost.
Oh well, at least this little critter enjoyed it - he fell in about 10 seconds after I took the picture - don't worry, I rescued him before he drowned, wouldn't want to drown him in this plonk...
Cheers!!