Winemaker Notes
The name Este means "east" in Spanish, which is the orientation of the property's main entrance.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are 10,000 cases of Alto Almanzora’s 2007 Este, a blend of 45% Monastrell, 25% Tempranillo, and the balance Syrah, Garnacha, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is sourced from the little-known DO of Almeria located in eastern Andalucia in the south-east of Spain. The wine was aged for six months in French and American oak. Deep purple in color (remarkably dense for its humble price), it offers up a kinky, full-blown nose of smoke, spice box, and wild blueberry. Ripe, succulent, and layered, this bargain-priced, hedonistic effort totally over-delivers. Buy it by the palette load and drink it over the next three years.
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.