Enrique Mendoza Estrecho Monastrell 2010 Front Label
Enrique Mendoza Estrecho Monastrell 2010 Front Label

Winemaker Notes

This wine is a ruby red color wine with tints of burgundy, clean and shiny. You will find a lot of fruitful aromas that combine perfectly with the aromas given by the ageing in the barrel without these being predominant. Clearly distinguished balsamic aromas such as pine, wet soil and rosemary. Also ripped red berries, prickly pear bread, accompanied by subtle toasted touches and cedar given mainly by the ageing in the barrel.

This wine is easy to drink with grainy and soft tannins. The wine is fresh and acid, which helps it live for a long time, the alcoholic percentage is long and oily.

Professional Ratings

  • 92
    Moving to the Monastrell wines, the 2010 Estrecho, from dry-farmed, old-vine Monastrell planted on sandy soils, is one of my favorite wines of the region, displaying what Monastrell is capable of. It ages in 500-liter oak barrels, as Monastrell does not need any additional tannins from the wood. It has notes of tree bark, blackberries and smoke and overall feels very fresh; 2010 is a cooler vintage which produced fine wines. Medium-bodied, with fresh acidity, persistent and long. It should age well. Only 2,000 bottles produced. Drink 2014-2021.
  • 91
    Broad black fruit aromas show toasty oak and graphite notes in front of a fresh, fruity, juicy palate. Wild raspberry and boysenberry flavors come with lemony oak and toast accents, while the finish is full in fruit yet crisp and precise.
Enrique Mendoza

Enrique Mendoza

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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.

STC658992_2010 Item# 200279