2007 Bodegas Borsao Monte Oton, Garnacha, Campo de Borja, Spain

The Campo de Borja area is known as "the Garnacha land of Spain.". This is the home of Bodegas Borsao, founded in 1958 and a Garnacha (a.k.a. Grenache) specialist for much of that time. The town of Borsao is part of the Zaragoza province, and is situated between the Ebro River and the Moncayo mountain range. The region has a continental climate, defined by very dry and hot summers and very cold winters.

The vineyards of Monte Oton, which produced the grapes for this featured wine selection, sits high on the wind-swept slopes of the extinct Moncayo volcano — a sun-drenched location that's ideal for growing perfectly matured Garnacha grapes. Bodegas Borsao takes this exquisite fruit and crafts it into an elegantly textured wine with a long, complex finish.

Body: medium
Color: ruby red
Aromas: soft red fruit like raspberries and plums. Hints of darker fruit like blackberries. Slight minerality and a burst of cherry on the mid palate with a touch of white pepper.

Good Words: "The 2007 Monte Oton is 100% Garnacha. Dark ruby-colored, the nose delivers aromas of mineral, cherry, and earth notes. This is followed by a medium-bodied wine with excellent depth, ripeness and a lengthy finish. It’s a mighty serious effort for its tiny price." -Rated 88, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Eat with: veal breast stew, baby carrots, spring onions & English peas

Bodega Olivares Dulce Monastrell

As Spain’s winemaking revolution continues to flourish, one of the next hot spots promises to be Jumilla, 150 miles southeast of Madrid. Along with Quinta do Noval’s Nacional vineyard and Bollinger’s Vignes Françaises, Jumilla was one of the few places in Europe spared during the Phylloxera epidemic of the late 1800’s. Virtually everywhere else on the continent, vineyards were devastated and, to this day, can only be planted when grafted onto American rootstock.

Jumilla’s Secret. For Jumilla, the key to its vineyards’ survival was their sandy soil—which is anathema to the Phylloxera insect. As a glorious consequence, Jumilla not only has some of the oldest vines in the world, but also the largest number of ungrafted vines. Most of these vines are Mourvèdre—or Monastrell as it is locally known—one of the most prized varieties of Mediterranean Europe. And Jumilla’s summers boast hot days and cool nights, perfect for ripening grapes, while maintaining acidity.


Today, Jumilla is awakening to its vast potential, and a winemaking revolution has followed—led by growers like Olivares’ Paco Selva. He owns 65+ hectares of ungrafted old vineyards in the northern part of the appellation, in La Hoya de Santa Ana. It is the coolest sub-zone of Jumilla, with sandy, lime-rich soils that yield intensely aromatic wines, while protecting the ungrafted vines from Phylloxera.

Harvesting Late. Prior to 1998, the Selva family’s business was in bulk wine, but each year they made an ambrosial dessert wine (“Dulce”) for their own consumption. To produce this nectar, they left a few acres of vines to hang late into the Fall. Even in normal vintages, these vines achieved spectacular ripeness. But, in favored years, morning fogs caused botrytis to form, concentrating and intensifying the sugars, while giving the juice a honeyed richness. This wine was never sold. However, on a 1998 visit to the estate, Spain’s top sommelier was given a glass of this astonishing elixir to taste. He was bowled over by it and urged Paco to release the Dulce commercially. It was an immediate sensation in Spain, with top restaurants and shops rushing to feature it. Inspired by the Dulce’s success, Paco turned his attention to producing sumptuous red table wines from his priceless old vines. His first release came in 2000: Altos de la Hoya. Made exclusively from old, ungrafted vineyards, it is a phenomenal value. As its experience with these new wines grows, and with a wealth of old vineyards to draw from, there is no limit to Olivares’ potential.

Mourvedre / Monastrell - A native of Spain (where it is known as Monastrell) this grape is the second leading red grape variety after Grenache in Spain. It is also popular in southern France and growing in California. This grape grows well in warmer regions, and is often high in alcohol and tannins making it a good blending grape.

DO Jumilla, Spain - The Designation of Origin of Jumilla is located in an arid mountain valley 50 miles in land from the Mediterranean Sea in Southeast Spain. Jumilla is known for its native grape varietal, Monastrell, which produces some of the world’s most robust and full-flavored wines.

Dulce Monastrell - Fruit Source: From an 11-hectare parcel ungrafted vines planted between 1872 and present.
Hand harvested. Yields: <17 hL/hA
Blend: 100% Monastrell Mourvèdre) from the vineyard’s oldest vines
Aging: Bottled June after the harvest.
Production: 3000 cases.

From the Wine Advocate
“Bodegas Olivares’s two value-priced Jumillas are noted on the Best Buy chart at the end of this report. They should not be missed. The 2004 Dulce Monastrell is sourced from the estate’s oldest Monastrell vines. The fermentation of the wine is stopped by the addition of 2 egrees of alcohol resulting in a finished wine of 16%.

Thick and sweet, it is reminiscent of blackberry jam. The wine has lots of flavor and a lengthy finish. It is a very good value in sweet wine. Score: 92.
- Jay Miller, February 2008.

Espelt 2007 Corali

The Espelt bodega cultivates the most extensive and innovative vineyard in Empordá. Espelt opened its winery in 2000, situated in the North of Catalonia, not far from the famous El Bulli Restaurant.

Empordá is a specific DO in Spain that is becoming more well known because of the fine wines being produced and the interesting landscape. Espelt uses a large variety of different grapes (16 types) all farmed and harvested with a biodynamic cultivation. The vineyard soil is mostly sand and porous granite, which in turn provides some mineral nuances expressed in the wine.

The 2007 Corali Rosé illuminates its bright pink color, with hints of coral. The aroma is intense and smooth with ripe red fruits and the initial taste is silky and smooth, with a fine balance, that is maintained in mid-palate with a long, bright finish. The Wine Advocate gave this wine a rating of 90 points in February.

Grapes: 100% Garancha, Soil: Granite, Sandy, Production: 750 cases, Alcohol: 13%

The Empordà Region in Spain

This is a glorious region in Spain, that I hope to visit later this summer. The area is encircled by the Pyrenees mountains and overlooks the Costa Brava sea. This unique location, between the mountains and the sea, creates unusual weather conditions and an exotic climatology of strong contrasts.

Abundant sunshine, minimal rainfall, mild winters and warm summers moderated by the salty sea breeze all enhance the wine to create unique characteristics in each vintage. Similar to the mistral in France, “the Tramuntana” is a fierce wind that blows strongly from the North and is said to help keep the vines dry, regulate the ripeness of the grapes and keep them free of disease.

The viticultural foundations that survive today in the Empordà-Costa Brava wine region began when the Greeks arrived on the coast of Northeast Catalonia in 700 BC. There are a total of 2,500 hectares of vines (6177 acres) distributed over the 36 small towns in this region.
Empordà-Costa Brava's main town is Figueres.

Figueres, the town that Salvador Dali was born in 1904, is a commercial hub that is most famous for the artist designed old theatre that was converted into a large museum called, Teatre-Museu Dalí. Known as the “Temple of Surrealism”, the museum is a popular site for international visitors and also where Salvador Dali lived in his final years before his death in 1989. Empordà-Costa Brava is a region rich in beauty, history, wine and art.

Celler de Capcanes, Mas Donis Barrica

Celler de Capcanes, founded in 1933, is situated in the village of Capcanes and has served for many years as the village cooperative winemaking facility. The town of Capcanes was mainly responsible for getting the Montsant wine region its own DO status. In the 1990’s, the co-op began making kosher wines for the Jewish population of Barcelona, and from that exposure in the much larger city, the property began to attract a greater level of interest. Wine expert and importer Eric Solomon approached the Celler of Capcanes and asked for a custom cuvée to be made from some of the better vines of the property.

The 2005 Old Vine Mas Donis Barrica is a blend of 85% Garnacha (from 60+ year old vines), and 15% Syrah. The varietals are vinified separately, stirring the lees twice a day. The Garnacha is aged for nine months in a combination of oak barrels and stainless steel tanks, and the Syrah is aged for three months in a blend of American and French oak barrels. Depending on the season, the grapes are harvested from early September to mid October by hand. The alcohol content is a whopping 14%.

The 2005 vintage is medium bodied with a nice lingering finish. It is medium ruby to pale burgundy in color, and the aromas are filled with berry fruit and lilacs. The first taste brings light, herbal grassy hints to the deep, berry-sour cherry flavors. There is an under layer of old world leather. The wine’s tannins are sweet and fresh with an overall ripe flavor. Only a small amount of this wine is imported to the US.

Montsant, Spain

Montsant is quite similar to the famous Priorat region of Spain both culturally and historically. LOCATION -Located in northeastern Spain, not far from the Catalan capitol of Barcelona, the region lies just to the west of the Priorat and shares the same hilly, rocky landscape. Montsant was recently granted their own official DO (Denominacion de Origen) status as a wine region in 2001. TERROIR - The 2,100 acres of this region encircles the Priorat region and is just a few hours southwest of Barcelona. The terroir of Montsant is quite rugged and stony with hand carved terraces that climb the steep mountainsides. ALTITUDE - The vineyard parcels in Montsant are planted 300 and 700 meters above sea level. Being so close to the sea, the CLIMATE is Mediterranean and is very warm with moderate amounts of rainfall. The soil in the lower altitudes is rich and fertile, whereas the soil in the northern altitudes is very poor, with high levels of slate and granite. The vineyards in the higher altitude are terraced with many old vines that take on the minerally stony qualities of the soil in the grapes. As in the neighboring Priorat region, the best wines are red. These wines are generally very concentrated with deep color and because of the rainfall and warm climate have a high alcohol content. GRAPES - The traditional grapes of Montsant include Garnacha, Syrah and Carignane.

2005 Las Rocas Garnacha

During our Grenache wine tasting last week, we tasted and totally enjoyed the 2005 Los Rocas de San Alejandro.  This is another wonderful value oriented Garnacha from an old vineyard in Calatayud, Spain.  The Garnacha vines are over 80 years old and account for about two-thirds of Calatayud's production.   This is an arid area on either side of the Jalón River with low yielding vineyards consisting of a brown limestone and slate soil content.   The climate has large temperature differences between night and day. Because of this, harvest is generally much later than in other parts of Aragon and the result is a more balanced end product.  Other products that thrive in this soil include olives and cherries.  This wine is relatively new and well received with a recent score of a 90 from the Wine Advocate.  In the early 2000's French winemaker, Jean-Marc Lafage teamed up with wine importer Eric Solomon to create their own label called, "Las Rocas" from the luscious Garnacha found here.

All of the above details show-off the terroir in the wine.  The aromas, the flavors and the finish are mostly a result of the characteristics of the land.  I found lovely aromas of berries, cherries black pepper and wet earth.  Because the wine is not aged on oak, the flavors include full forward fruit of blackberries, anise spice, pepper, and taste of minerals rather than wood.  The wine has a medium to generous finish which seems balanced with a bit of depth.  

If you see this wine on the shelf at a wine shop, give it a try!  Enjoy this with tapas, or charcuterie, a hearty chicken stew or a braised pork shank.

Artazuri 2005 Garnacha, Navarra, Spain

The Garnacha from Navarra delivers a very different character than Grenache from the Rhone Valley. Instead of the typical deep earthy aromas , the Artazuri Garnacha smells refreshingly fruity - sun-ripened fruits like cherries & berries are not only in the nose but in the forward flavors as well. The wine is medium to full bodied, peppery and a tad spicy.  This wine has some similarities to a big fruity California Zin. The finish is lingering, gentle, velvety and the sweet & sour cherry essences stay to the very end. This is a great food wine, I can see this being a complement to the red wine usual suspects - this is a wine that can be enjoyed through the meal, even a second bottle will go down nicely.

About 3000 cases of this wine is produced by famed Artadi (Rioja) Winery winemaker, Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle. Artazuri is made with 100% Garnacha grapes from 60 - 85 year old vines. Juan Carlos is one of the truly talented winemakers to actually receive 100 points from Robert Parker for his Artadi Wines. When he realized the possibilities of the Grenache vines in the small town of Artazu, in the south of Navarra, he knew that his work was needed. The vines in the past were only used to produce Rose and he knew that the grapes were ready to offer something special with his magic touch.  

This wine is apt to end up on winelist at the restaurants, by the bottle & the glass!  I will let you know when.

Navarra Wine Region - Garnacha

The other day, we tasted some very interesting wines from the Navarra wine region - not the 1st Spanish wine region to come to mind, but one of the oldest.  In recent years, Navarra is coming back strong as an important winemaking area in Spain, blending old and new techniques and utilizing grapes from all over the world.  Where the famous running of the bulls takes place, neighbor to Rioja - Navarra's winemaking dates back to the Middle-Ages. Old presses and stone fermentation vats were found in recent archeological discoveries.

In the 1980's Garnacha grapes took up about 90% of the available vineyard space.  The wines produced were primarily robust rose wines.  Currently that percentage has decreased to about 40% and now the wines are being treated with more respect and some fine

winemakers are showing off what they can do with properly yielded & handled Garnacha. 

Navarra is in a unique geographical situation.   The vineyards are sheltered from the Atlantic rains by a chain of mountains and are irrigated by the waterways of the Rio Ebro.  The poor clay and stone soils work for the winemakers as they are the ideal soil to grow grapes. Rolling hills allow growers to plant at a variety of altitudes and with varying degrees of exposure to the midday sun, thus allowing winemakers to experiment with their blends. The weather is optimum as well: long, hot summer days are balanced by cool nights, which provides the best ripening for the grapes.