Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are 10,000 cases of the 2007 Ercavio Roble, made up of 100% Cencibel (Tempranillo) and aged for five months in French and American oak. A glass-coating opaque purple in color, it delivers an expressive nose of cedar, earth notes, black cherry, and blackberry liqueur. Thick, dense, and opulent on the palate, it has gobs of savory black fruit, licorice and spice notes, enough structure to evolve for 1-2 years, and a lengthy finish. It totally over-delivers for its humble price. This is one to buy by the case.
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.