Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The excellent 2010 La Atalaya is a blend of 85% Garnacha and 15% Monastrell, 40- and 30-year-old vines respectively, grown on chalky and sandy-loam soils and matured in French oak for 12 months, the varieties kept separate until the final blend. It is a little taciturn on the nose at first, opening gradually to offer blackberry, cigar box and a touch of wild mint. The palate is medium-bodied with plenty of crisp blackberry and bilberry fruit, complemented by fresh plums and a splash of balsamic. This is very harmonious, the Monastrell lending the Garnacha structure and tautness on the finish. This is well-crafted and should 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.