Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe, lusty blackberry, cherry and earth aromas are accented by woodsy spice scents. This is full in body, with firm tannins that provide structure. Flavors of mixed berry fruits, toasty oak and related spice run deep, while this Tempranillo is staunch on the finish, with mildly abrasive tannins. Drink through 2022.
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Wine Spectator
Dense and smooth, this red delivers harmonious flavors of plum, licorice, tobacco, toast and mineral, supported by well-integrated tannins. Extracted but fresh. Drink now through 2022.
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.