The La Riojana 1591 Torrontes Dolce (sweet) is a Sparkling wine made from Torrontes grapes grown in the La Rioja region of Argentina. The La Rioja region is where Spanish missionaries first planted grapevines in 1591. Most wines you see from Argentina are grown in the Mendoza region, La Rioja is north of Mendoza and has a warmer, drier climate. The label says this wine was made naturally at harvest, which would indicate this wine was tank fermented with almost no bottle aging, it is rare to see a wine produced in 2011, sold in the stores in 2011. This bottle is sold as a Trader Joe’s ($6.99) wine, but the same wine seems to be sold at Whole Foods and Sam’s Club under the Raza label. The alcohol content is a low 7.5%. It has a very funky, purple, mushroom-like, plastic stopper for a cork.
The color is almost clear with just a hint of yellow, the bubbles are tiny and numerous. The nose is light and delicate, pink grapefruit, juicy apricot and pineapple with a touch of honey. This is a sweet wine, but not sugary, candy sweet, more very ripe fruit sweet. It tastes of a potpourri of pear, melon, and lemon/lime. The mouth feel is slightly syrupy and the mid palate adds a hint of Sweetarts candy. The bubbles hit your tongue and quickly disappear, they are very light, other than a tingly sensation in your mouth, it almost does not seem like Sparkling wine. There is a good amount of acidity evident on the finish that acts as a counterbalance to the overall sweetness of the wine.
The La Riojana 1591 Torrontes Dolce is the perfect Sparkling wine for people who don’t normally drink wine. Light, delicate and sweet, but with balance and juicy fruit flavors. At 7.5% alcohol, it works well when you want to celebrate with Bubbly, but you don’t want to get grandma drunk or put your guests who drove in a compromising position.
bleeeech! Boiling water needed. Seems like I could finally figure out you really get what you pay around here. I had to chop the stupid pink “cork” off with a knife like it cost $100. Pouring it down the sink. If you liked Boonesfarm you might like to drink this on special ocassions. Have a sharp knife or hammer
I really enjoyed this wine. It was a plus to have a lower alcohol content- didn’t put me sleep.
This is not a dry wine- nice undertones of fruit. The cork was not an issue for me.
I am looking for more! : )
For the price of this wine it is a real find. I was looking around Trader Joe’s a few days ago for a party and came across this; loved the packaging and thought I would give it a shot for the price…I have to say:
1) Spectacular find that went well with all of the appetizers we cooked up for a party of about 12!
2) People were asking where they could find it, so it must have been good.
3) I back it up, excellent!
I love this wine but I cant find it my trader joe’s stop carrying it where can I get it ?