Southeast Spain
MARCH 2024
Your March club features a Monastrell from Alicante (purple on the map, near the coastal town of the same name) and a Monastrell blend from Almansa. The two wineries are only 45 minutes apart, but Almansa is more inland, located on the southeastern edge of Spain's Central Plateau (gold on the map). We are stoked with these finds. Interesting, tasty reds for late winter/early spring. Hope you enjoy!
Photo above: Bodegas Sierra Salinas vineyards - Alicante
Monastrell
Known in French as Mourvèdre, this grape is more readily recognized as a blending grape in the Southern Rhône. (It's the M in GSM – Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre blends). But Spain is its original home, near the town of Valencia.
Monastrell is a thick-skinned, late-ripening grape that can take a lot of heat. It grows well in the unforgiving clay soils of southeast Spain. It's a fuller-bodied, deeply-purple, dry red with aromas of violets, blackberries, mulberries & boysenberries, often adding in rich flavors of cocoa, coffee & chocolate on the finish. If you haven't already met this grape, enjoy the introduction!
Bodegas Atalaya
D.O. Almansa
Bodegas Atalaya is a property belonging to the Gil family in Jumilla. It is located near the border to Alicante, where the landscape starts to change from the lower elevation Mediterranean to the higher elevation, hotter, drier Central Plateau – perfect terrain for Garnacha Tintorera and Monastrell. The vineyards are made up of unfertile, rugged, limestone soils with scarce rainfall.... and these grapes flourish, producing "concentrated fruits that give a burst of varietal characteristics, flavours and aromas."
Bodegas Atalaya 2021 Laya Red Blend
Almansa, Spain // Reg $14.99 | Mixed Case $11.99
Blend of 70% Garnacha Tintorera (=Garnacha clone) & 30% Monastrell. 4 months in barrel. C-R-A-Z-Y wine. Rich nose: blackberries, boysenberries. Big bramble! Cherries, coconut too. Flavors are fresh. Not as sweet as you'd expect. Full-bodied. Boysenberries, blue- & blackberries, cherries, fresh earth, herbs. Super complex. Dry finish. So incredibly fun! The winery says to enjoy this wine with game meat and creamy rice dishes, stewed legumes, mushrooms, game and poultry, casseroles, fish and seafoods, cured and blue cheeses, grilled and roasted white and red meats. So there!
Bodegas Sierra Salinas
D.O. Alicante
This winery is located in Sierra Salinas (Alicante), thus its name. The vineyards rise up to 680 meters above sea level on hilly terrain with almond and olive trees interspersed. The estate has 52 hectares of vines of which 42 hectares are Monastrell (20-50 year old vines) and 10 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon, Alicante Bouschet and Petit Verdot.
The soils are rocky, chalky and very shallow and loose allowing for good drainage. The summers are hot and dry; the winters are cold.
In 2013, the Miñano and Gómez families purchased Bodega Sierra Salinas. They are in the process of converting the winery to organic and dry farming. In such a dry area, it's tempting to irrigate, but dry farming forces the roots to dig deep for nutrients, enhancing complexity and flavor. They have also minimzed their use of oak (thus the price point – barrels are expensive!), creating a new style of Monastrell from Alicante.
Bodegas Sierra Salinas 2019 Monastrell
Alicante, Spain // Reg $14.99 | Mixed Case $11.99
90% dry-farmed Monastrell, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aromas of red and black plums + the black raspberries that we gobble up on the way home from the farmers market. Palate is plummy (dark plums), blackberries. Great acidity. Fresh long finish. 4 months in neutral French barrique tames the tannins in the Monastrell and adds in a coffee note. Really fun wine, especially for the price. Enjoy with richer cuts of grilled or braised meats, short ribs, mushroom pizza, charcuterie.
Great wines across the board. Hope you enjoy them and maybe make a new friend!
Cheers,
Jens Strecker, Owner
Portalis Wine Shop