Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with grilled meats, cabrito and lamb.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made from vines planted in 1915, the 2013 Garnacha Negra comes from the village of Batea, where wine has been made since the 15th century. Eric Solomon partnered with Spaniard Nuria Altes to produce this remarkable, cool-climate, high-altitude Grenache with a Pinot Noir-like personality. Abundant notes of cranberries, red cherries, black currants and hints of forest floor and damp earth are followed by a medium-bodied wine with terrific fruit intensity and richness that can only be the result of these old vines. The wine also possesses a freshness, vibrancy and exuberance that are stunningly impressive. Drink it over the next 1-2 years.
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.