Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Mas de Can Blau is a blend of 35% Carinena, 35% Syrah, and 30% Garnacha with the Garnacha and Carinena ranging in age from 65-85 years. Malolactic fermentation occurred in barrel and the wine was aged in new French oak for 20 months before being bottled unfiltered. Purple-colored, it reveals a complex, sophisticated perfume of toast, slate, smoke, espresso, black cherry, and blueberry. This leads to a wine with a full-bodied personality, layers of flavor, gobs of fruit, and a pure, lengthy finish. It will be at its best between 2013 and 2025.
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.