Joan d'Anguera Montsant Planella 2010
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2009-
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The vineyards lie at an altitude of 200 to 300 meters on clay and calcareous soils. The majority of the Shiraz and Cabernet plantings are now more than 20 years old, and the Grenache and Carignan are more than 50 years old. Joan D'Anguera uses barrels of American oak sourced in Spain from Martin de la Rioja as well as French oak sourced in France from Demptos.
The two sons of the late patriarch, Josep D'Anguera, run this domain under the the vigilant eye of their mother. Their intention is to produce the best Shiraz-based wines of Spain. Known as "Mister Shiraz" in Spain, Josep (the father) was a man with an extensive knowledge of the international wine scene. Introduced to Shiraz by a Spanish enologist who had traveled to California in the 1970s, Josep started planting the grape in 1977 anywhere he could find vineyard space.
Fifteen years ago he began estate bottling a wine called Vino Joven. Vino Joven recently has sold out every year. In 1997, he released two additional wines -- La Planella and Finca L'Argata. La Planella is a blend exclusively for the U.S. market. It receives extended maceration time in addition to a lengthy fermentation. Finca L'Argata is made from a selection of the best parcels and is aged in oak for one year. The first vintage for this wine was the 1996 vintage, and one new wine is scheduled for release in 2000. El Bugader, which is made primarily from the best parcels of Shiraz, is aged in oak for 20 months. Joan D'Anguera also produces very limited quantities of a Vi Dolç. This wine is very stylistically similar to Banuyls from France and is destined to age well.
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.