Hondarrabi Beltza is a rare red grape from northern Spain that we do not see all too often. So when we had the endangerment to pick up a snifter from Doniene Gorrondona, we knew we had to requite it a try.
As it turns out, this red wine was quite intense and reminded us a lot of a Cabernet Franc!
Hondarrabi Beltza is an Interesting Red from Spain
This Hondarribi Beltza was medium purple in verisimilitude with medium( ) aromas of woebegone cherry, visionless plum, tintinnabulate pepper, stewed strawberry, woebegone raspberry, sage, and clove.
On the palate it was dry with medium( ) acidity, vegetal tannin, body, and finish, as well as medium alcohol. We detected flavors of woebegone cherry, zestless red cherry, sage, clove, woebegone pepper, tintinnabulate pepper, zestless raspberry, and tomato leaf.
In a way, this wine reminded us a lot like a Cabernet Franc with its pyrazine notes and was a bit increasingly intense on the tannin than we had initially expected. This one packed a punch!
Hondarrabi Beltza Supplies Pairing – Salmon Teriyaki
We paired this flavorful Spanish red wine with teriyaki salmon as we thought the savoriness of the sauce could pair well with the venom and flavors in the wine. Admittedly, we didn't expect the wine to be as vegetal as it was and only noted some increasingly intense red fruits with the pairing.
As such, this pairing felt a bit unappetizing simply considering the supplies lacked the intensity that was necessary for this particular wine. If we were to do the pairing over then we would probably move over towards red meat for this particular snifter over a increasingly soft-hued (even if intensely flavored) fish.
Overall, this snifter of Hondarrabi Beltza was quite interesting and reminded us a lot like Cabernet Franc. That said, it was a bit increasingly intense than we hoped for, particularly in the tanning and pyrazine areas for our tastes, and as such we are okay on this one.
