Wine 6

Basa is a banner under which several tasty Spanish wines are gathered. This wine in particular seems to come from Valladolid, Spain, as far as the sparse labeling on the bottle suggests. Valladolid is an inland city and a producer of several types of wine.
This is another wine which has turned a disturbing shade of yellow. I recall its being very clear when it was new, a light colored and light bodied wine. My understanding of Ruedos in general and this wine in particular is that they tend toward the fruity and pleasant. The reviews for the current vintage suggest that drinking it in the next 12 months is the wisest course of action.
My bottle of Basa Ruedos has been sitting, undisturbed, in the back of my cellar for the last ten years. Upon my removing the cork, the wine hissed at me, which is never a good sign. Its color is a tacit threat.
Upon first removing the cork, I noted a distinct hint of blueberry which evaporated almost immediately. A fellow taster who braved this wine said it momentarily suggested cherry syrup. Of the three of us there, each smelled a different, distinct odor for a single instant as the wine was exposed to its first gasp of fresh air in a decade. Had we discovered a wine made of purest Bombastium?
No, in fact not, although, for the sake of completeness, I will include here that I also believe I smelled a mild fruit, probably kumquat, on the very back of this wine's nose.
Upon consumption, there was almost no flavor at all, at least at first. What little there was couldn't quite overpower the strong alcohol which had become most of the actual taste of the wine. But then, just to prove that we weren't all tasting different wines, it hit us all at once.
The smell, very distinct, of burning tobacco. At first, I likened it uncharitably to cigarette remains but on reflection amended the statement. Two of us agreed that it was precisely the flavor of a pipe backing up during smoking. All of us agreed, the wine tasted very distinctly of burning, and we agreed, albeit somewhat less strongly, that it was burning tobacco.
After drinking the wine, I was able to detect the tobacco flavor in the bouquet, even after thoroughly clearing my palate and mouth.
This was a curious thing, as one can be so amused by a foodstuff which tastes so entirely other than it smells. At least, I can. I wouldn't call this a good wine, certainly, although it was probably a very palatable one when it was fresh. Now, sadly, tasting so strongly of smoke and ash, it is only a relatively pleasant memory.