Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Remarkably, the 2011 Veraton is just as strong with an even higher alcohol content of 15.5%. A fabulous nose of spring flowers, ground pepper, blackberries and black cherry liqueur is followed by a full-bodied, super-intense wine made from incredibly low yields, and aged 17 months in a combination of French and American oak before being bottled unfiltered. This superb wine easily competes with wines priced two to three times higher. It, too, should drink well for a decade.
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.