Pinol Finca Morenillo 2010
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Robert
Parker
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The 2010 Finca Morenillo is produced with extremely old vines of Morenillo, the local variety from Terra Alta (also known as Mando there and elsewhere) aged for 15 months in new French oak. The wine has a bright ruby cherry color with some orange tints around the edges, and a complex, subtle and elegant nose of red fruits and flowers intermixed with forest floor notes and plenty of sweet and brown spices. The palate is medium-bodied, with fine-grained, slightly dusty tannins and supple flavors of pomegranate and blood orange with a spicy finish. A very elegant and different Terra Alta.
The winery Vinos Piñol is located in the town of Batea. This town is 45 miles south of Barcelona in the high mountains of Tarragona. 1300 ft above the Mediterranean Sea, the Terra Alta region is located next to Priorat, enjoying the same climate conditions and altitude as the Priorat wine region.
Vinos Piñol enjoys a high Mediterranean, with very hot days and cold nights with moderate rains. This climate allows the grapes to ripen very well during the day and slowly during the night, allowing the acidity and the skin-to-juice ratio to build up to the necessary level to have a well-balanced wine. The vineyards are well-protected by the high mountains surrounding Batea.
Limestone on the surface layer and clay on the inside layer, the soils of Vinos Piñol are poor in organic matter. This causes the vines produce lower yields, creating more concentrated grapes. With old family-owned vineyards, small production, organic farming, and the same climate conditions as Priorat, Vinos Piñol has become known for a beautiful selection of wines.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.