Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010

Over the weekend I was in Melbourne consuming my body weight in wine, but before we headed there I had dinner with my parents on Friday night. They offered to drive me to the airport at an ungodly hour, so it was only fair that I bring over a nice bottle to share. Although I got the Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010 from Virgin Wines a while ago, I kept it because it was one of the fancier bottles I received. But I decided it was time to share it with some people that I love. And I’m glad I did because it was due to be drunk this year!

I’m a sucker for a label, but this Spanish wine was next level. I mean working in marketing I should know better than to fall for the bottle that has gold twine around it. But damn, this bottle had gold twine all over it. And that means it is fancier than all other bottles right? Surely it is the mark of fine quality!

Getting to know Spanish wine with Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010

I’m usually a sucker for a Tempranillo, so I was interested to try the Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010. It is a Garnacha based blend which I have also found on the internet being described as ‘rare red blend’. Another reason this bottle is fancy right? Well, the reason I chose to bring it along was the age. I don’t have many wines I’m willing to open now from 2010, but because I didn’t have a strong sentimental attachment to this one I decided it was worth drinking.

All gold string and age aside, I was intrigued that this was something I’d never tried before. I was keen to see how it compared to the Rioja and Tempranillo’s I had tried from both Spain and Australia. I was also hoping that it would be light enough for my parents to enjoy. They are big Pinot Noir drinkers, and since all I had was the Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010 and Shiraz, I opted for the wildcard.

Why I loved it

Well, I’m glad I did crack open this bottle for dinner with my parents. I must say I was a bit hesitant to remove the fancy gold string from the bottle and pull out the cork, but my curiosity got the better of me. I decided to decant it because of the age (the older the wine the safer you are to decant it in order to soften it), and we sat down to enjoy it with dinner.

The first reason I loved the Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010 was that is was so unbelievably easy to drink. It was incredibly smooth with minimal tannin or acidity, so ended up feeling quite light despite the high alcohol content. Trust me, this wine doesn’t drink like it’s 14%!

The aroma of the wine was a little bit of berry and strong spice, but a hint of leather from the age. You got soft better flavours through the wine, but it had a really nice lingering spice flavour that gave the wine good length. So you sipped the wine and it was soft and light, but you got a really nice long lasting flavour. It meant the bottle got drunk all too quickly as it was far too easy to polish off a glass or two.

Despite the age on the Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010, I wouldn’t say that it is drinking like a super old wine. It isn’t rich or overly complex, but it is good easy drinking wine. It can be hard to find these soft flavours in an old wine sometimes, and for those times where you want a wine that’s simply good, this will be your jam.

What to enjoy it with

This wine is best enjoyed with food, so pop it in a decanter before dinner and watch it disappear! We enjoyed our bottle with a Middle Eastern lamb dish and I think this was a good pairing as the meal didn’t have too many overpowering flavours. I think it could also go with lamb chops or bbq quite easily.

Whatever you pair it with, make sure it isn’t too heavy. The wine doesn’t have too much tannin or acidity, so it won’t cut through the fat of something slow cooked or strong in flavour. The meal should be light and simple with nothing too rich.

You could always do as the Spanish do and enjoy this with tapas style food!

The final word

The Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010 definitely surprised me. I was expecting something bold to come out of that bottle. A heavy food wine with loads of spice. But what I got was definitely good drinking wine. It wasn’t the best old wine I’ve ever had, but it was interesting to try a different type of Spanish wine to those I was familiar with.

If you’re looking for a light style wine, look no further than the Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010. It has enough flavour to be enjoyable, but it is smooth and goes down all too easy. It’s great for sharing with friends and family, particularly as it comes with such fancy packaging! That’s always a bit of a win in my book. What can I say? I’m a sucker for the looks! Luckily the Ermita de San Lorenzo Gran Reserva 2010 also delivers on taste in an unexpected way!