Winemaker Notes
Best enjoyed on special occasions, with slow cooked meals such as pot roast, BBQ, and hickory smoked ribs.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 AN, is mostly Callet with some 5% Mantonegro-Fogoneu aged in oak barrels for 18 months. The oak shows on the nose dominated by balsamic aromas of cigar ash, cedar wood, cinnamon and vanilla with hints of smoke and a core of red and black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with plenty of tannins from the barrels giving it a harsh, slightly drying texture. It needs some time to calm down and settle in the bottle. I also sampled 2011 and 2012 feels fresher.
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Wine Spectator
Smoky and herbal notes frame black cherry, licorice and espresso flavors in this savory red. Lively acidity and light, firm tannins give this a modest but balanced structure. A refreshing bitter finish lingers. Drink now through 2020.
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.