Campo De Borja, Aragon, Spain
16% Alcohol
Tasted 2015-11-29
Deep, nearly impenetrable cherry red. Rich aromas of blackberries and dark cherries. Essences of gingerbread hearts paired with cold tobacco and some sweet BBQ smoke. The high alcohol is already recognizable in the smell. A little bit too much? Let's see. The first sip is gorgeous and with a lot of discrepancies which are wonderfully combined in a long and extremely smooth finish. What do I mean with discrepancies? The wine is on the one hand aggressive due to its youth but on the other hand velvety as a result of the already perfectly integrated alcohol. So the answer is clear - the alcohol is not too high. Next the tannins are clearly present and need to be better integrated in the coming years. But together with the strong smoke taste these tannins develop a great fleshy power which tells you: "Give me a rich BBQ! I can handle...". And indeed this is our plan for dinner. First I will decant this power packet. I will come back after dinner...
Two hours later. My wife prepared a nice pulled pork BBQ which wonderfully harmonises with the wine. In the meantime the Alto Moncayo became smoother, more charming. And the smokiness is transformed into a real fruit bomb. As mentioned the smoke is now a little bit reduced. Instead textures of red fruit jelly are present. This sweetness gives the BBQ the perfect touch. An outstanding pairing! Drink this Garnacha monster in the next five years - or simply open a bottle for the coming Holiday dinner.
Sunday, November 29. 2015
2012 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Alto Moncayo Garnacha (93/100)
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