Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This outstanding winery, whose top end wines are made under the auspices of the well-known Australian winemaker, Chris Ringland, also produces this reasonably priced 2009 Veraton from 100% Grenache. Aged 17 months in a combination of French and American oak, and bottled unfiltered, it reveals good minerality from the vineyard’s slate and clay soils. Soft, round and full-bodied with an expansive, fleshy mouthfeel as well as plenty of red and black fruits, this terroir-driven red exhibits some oak, but it is well-integrated and reasonably subtle.
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.