Wine Last Sold on: December 23, 2012
Pago de Montal
Featured Wine:
2009 Monastrell-Syrah
| Varietal: | Red Blend |
| Region: | Spain: Valencia |
| Availability: | EXTREMELY LIMITED |
| Avg. Price: | $20.00 |
| Wine Spies: | $15.99 |
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2012 WINE INTRIGUE AWARDS WINNER:
Operatives’ Choice: Top Spanish Red of 2012
Welcome to day seven of the 6th Annual Wine Spies Wine Intrigue Awards. Every year, our Operatives and our Agents choose their favorite wines of the past year. Today, we are very pleased to present our Operatives’ favorite Spanish Red - of any that we showcased in 2012.
SUPER QPR ALERT:
At today’s special Wine Spies price, this wine delivers tremendous value - and a drinking experience that exceeds expectations, easily earning it this special QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Alert.
Mission Codename: Señor Mataro
- Operative
- Agent Red
- Objective
- Send Agent Red to Spain, in search of a budget-minded red blend, for fans of our International Sunday Selections.
- Mission Status
- Accomplished!
Final Assessment
This wine is such a delicious treat that is long on flavor, big aromatics – and value, making it an easy choice for well under $20. Monastrell is the Spanish name for Mourvedre. Widely planted in Spain, this varietal is used as a 100% varietal wine, or as a blending component. Today’s wine is a delicious and balanced blend of Monastrell with Syrah.
This wine is fruit-driven, but it is not a jammy fruit bomb of a wine. Rather, while this wine does have a sweet side, this sweetness is tempered by earthy components, spice and distinctive savory aromas and flavors. With enough acidity to make this wine a great companion for most foods. Our tasting panel paired this wine with a Thai-inspired cucumber and skirt steak salad. The combination was divine!
Tasting Profile
Dark garnet hues, from center to edge. At the core of the wine, even darker garnet, but still see-through. After spinning, tall columns of skinny legs take a steady march down the glass wall.
Blackberry jam with mix stone fruit compote lead the way. As the wine opens up (keep swirling and be rewarded!), it reveals aromas of dried meats, bramble, sweet dark brown spice and a hint of savory dried herbs.
Cool and light at the tip of the tongue. Then, very slowly, the wine becomes grippy and plush as a softly spreading dryness reaches to the far corners of the palate. Integrated tannins and a medium acidity frame the fruit on the palate.
Dark and richly layered, with complex flavors of sweet dark stewed stone fruit, overripe blackberry, black cherry juice, dark strawberry and blackberry jam. As the wine opens up, it reveals savory spice and hints of leather, dried black flowers and black pepper.
Ultra long and packed with flavors that begin with dark mixed fruit and then trend toward earthy and savory.
What the Winery Says
Bigarreau cherry red. In the nose, it is fresh with a predominance of ripe fruit aromas characteristic of the variety from which it comes. In the mouth, it is greasy and elegant with notes of fruits of the forest and liquorice typical of the variety.
Production Notes: The grapes with which it is made come from our own vineyard and are picked by hand. Destalked and crushed grapes. After the destalking and crushing of the grape, it is macerated-fermented in stainless steel casks, taking into account the appropriate moment for separation to achieve a wine with structure. After the malolactic fermentation, it spends in oak cask.
Technical Analysis:
Production Area: Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla
Region: Fuente-Álamo (Albacete)
Varietals: 85% Monastrell, 15% Syrah
Harvest: Late September 2008
Time in the cask: 3 months in French and American cask of 2-3 years.
Alcohol: 14%
Winemaker: Joan Soler
Cases Produced: 3600
About the Winery
With over 111 years of experience in the wine world, the Roqueta family invested in early 2008 in Fuentealamo (Albacete), founding Pago de Montal/
This new project has emerged backed by a deep knowledge of production and distribution of wine, to offer consumers the best quality wines from our own grapes.
The philosophy of Pago de Montal is to get Terroir wines of intense color and flavor to express the purity of the autochthonous varieties, reflecting the area from which they come from and showing and elegant structure with exquisite, powerful and complex soft tannins.
The winery is supplied by 27 hectares of vineyards. It is a privileges place on the southeast of the Albacete province, composed of small plots where we grow the varieties on the best place depending on the adaptation of these varieties.
Processing facilities service the art equipment to produce wines that are getting a response to new trends and consumer demands.
Only grapes of the best quality are selected, carefully fermented and aged in French and American oak of small grain, culminating in an elegant wine of intense richness and complexity.
