Weekly Toast: Exploring the spice of Rioja

Michael Roussin with a bottle of Rioja wine at the Point Restaurant at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. (Thomas Nelson / The Salt Lake Tribune)

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Are you looking for a new wine, cocktail or micro-brewed beer? In this column, we ask a Utah expert for a recommendation. This week we talked to:

Michael Roussin » The owner/operator of Bacchus Event Services, which offers bartending, wine tasting and wine-education classes throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Roussin received his sommelier certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers.

What are you drinking now?

2005 Marques Caceres Rioja Rouge, Spain.

Why do you like it?

It's my personal goal to get people to explore the rest of the world of wine and this is an excellent starting point. I use this wine as one of my gateway reds in my wine eduction classes. It holds the traditional components of a full-bodied red wine with a strong spice after tone. I am a true meat-lover type of guy and this wine pairs particularly well with all of my favorite dishes. I also like this wine because it is affordable, accessible, and an excellent value for the price.

What makes it interesting?

The flexibility of the main grape, Tempranillo; it's somewhere between medium and full bodied, full of dark and bright red fruit flavors with some hints of leather and vanilla. This is a great example of an old world wine and far from the "fruit bomb" new world wines. Old world wines have a minerality or earthiness to them that you

Price?

$15.99 at the Utah state wine stores

Best food pairing?

Any hearty, meat dish, (particularly) barbecue and beef stews.

afassio@sltrib.com