Atalaya La Atalaya Del Camino 2017
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 85% Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet), 15% Monastrell
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 La Atalaya del Camino is a blend of 85% Garnacha Tintorera and 15% Monastrell from dry-farmed, head-pruned vines planted on limestone soils averaging 45 years of age from a particularly dry year that resulted in an early harvest of healthy and concentrated grapes. This unmistakably Mediterranean red is ripe with 15% alcohol but with freshness after fermenting in open-top stainless steel vats with neutral yeasts. The wine matured for 12 months in French barrique, where it also underwent malolactic. It's super aromatic and fruit-driven, quite spectacular, even exotic with a smoky and meaty touch. It has depth and complexity and the old-vine concentration with bittersweet and very interesting flavors. Heady, juicy, ripe and very satisfying, it should be quite long lived. 54,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2019.Rating: 91+
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James Suckling
Dark fruit with dark tea and hints of mahogany on the nose. Full body. Dense and very rich with walnut and gum-tree flavors. Juicy finish. A rich and decadent wine.
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The winery and vineyards are located in the eastern part of Albacete, between Valencia, Alicante and Murcia, a transitional zone between the Castillian meseta (plateau) and the Mediterranean Sea. The vineyards are located on poor soils, rich in limestone, at an altitude of 2300-3300 ft. The area has a continental climate with very low rainfall (less than 14 inches/year) which creates the perfect conditions to keep yields low, lending to high quality fruit with great concentration of color and flavor. The vineyards are all dry farmed without the use of pesticides or herbicides.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
The Moors gave it the name, ‘Manxa,’ which fittingly means ‘parched earth.’ La Mancha, the largest Spanish wine producing region in all of Spain, is one of its hottest and driest. Sturdy and drought-resistant white varieietes like Airen, Viura and Verdejo thrive in this environment.