Bodegas Sierra Salinas Mo Monastrell 2018
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James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Aromas of fresh red fruits with hints of spices and freshly baked bread.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A primary-fruited style with violet reduction and raspberries. Bright and fruity, this is reminiscent of Beaujolais and quite enjoyable. Drink now.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Blueberries, violets, white pepper, and graphite notes all emerge from the 2018 Mo, which is 100% Monastrell, from old vines and high elevation vineyards, brought up all in stainless steel. Juicy, medium-bodied, with good acidity, and plenty of fruit, it's another smoking value from this importer. Drink it over the coming couple of years.
Other Vintages
2019-
James
Suckling -
Wilfred
Wong -
Jeb
Dunnuck
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Robert
Parker
In 2013, the Miñano and Gómez families, owners of MGWine Group, purchased Bodega Sierra Salinas
Founded in 2000 by the Castaño family of Yecla. Since 2013, the philosophy of the Miñano and Gómez families has been to restore focus on the vineyards, by converting all of them to organic and dry farming. The temptation in such an arid climate as Alicante is to irrigate, but dry farming in this zone forces the root structures to grow deep and produces bunches with a tremendous natural balance of phenolic ripeness and healthy pH. They have also minimized the impact of new oak barrique in their wines, and at this price point, are creating a completely unique style of Monastrell from Alicante. Jorge Ordóñez Selections began to represent Bodega Sierra Salinas in the United States in July of 2018.
Full of ripe fruit, and robust, earthy goodness, Mourvèdre is actually of Spanish provenance, where it still goes by the name Monastrell or Mataro. It is better associated however, with the Red Blends of the Rhône, namely Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Mourvèdre shines on its own in Bandol and is popular both as a single varietal wine in blends in the New World regions of Australia, California and Washington. Somm Secret—While Mourvèdre has been in California for many years, it didn’t gain momentum until the 1980s when a group of California winemakers inspired by the wines of the Rhône Valley finally began to renew a focus on it.
Alicante is a port city in southeastern Costa Blanca and municipality in the Valencian Community of Spain. The eponymous DO is a non-contiguous appellation, divided between east and west. Along the eastern coast you find La Marina, a subzone known for its perfumed sweet white wines made from Moscatel de Alejandría; other white grape varieties include Merseguera and Malvasía. The drier, more extreme climate to the west is home to Monastrell, which accounts for 75% of total DO vineyard plantings. Other major red grape varieties include Garnacha Tintorera and Bobal, a thick-skinned black variety native to the Levante (the eastern edge of the Iberian Peninsula). Bobal had been destined for bulk wine production during much of its modern history but a new generation of winemakers today are taking advantage of the wide availability of old vine material, to produce full-bodied, concentrated wines, which are increasingly complex. In the last ten years, Alicante DO has gained popularity and respect for its new light, fresh wines and interesting varietal reds produced by pioneering bodegas.
Alongside the other wines emerging here, Alicante’s classic dessert wine, Fondillon, has been exported for centuries and is enjoying its own renaissance.