Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Mauro is produced with 90% Tempranillo and 10% Syrah from different vineyards in the villages of Tudela de Duero, Traspinedo, Santibanez and Quintanilla de Onesimo, where the soils are rich in chalk and clay, with sandy and stony parts. The wine matured in oak barrels for some 16 months and was finally bottled in June 2014. It’s fresher than the 2011, mixing aromas of red and black fruit. The oak is well-integrated, with good balance and a certain elegance. The palate is medium-bodied, with good acidity and highly-polished, fine tannins. A great version of Mauro. Drink 2015-2018.
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.