Enrique Mendoza, La Tremenda Monastrell 2012, Alicante, Spain

Tasting Note: A restrained monastrell that I suspect results from a French winemaker’s take on the grape in Spain (that’s just a guess based on taste; not research).

Purple-to-ruby in color this wine has an aromatic nose of stewed black plum, violet, and red cherry with hints of clove baking spice.

On the palate the wine is dry with a restrained just-ripened, but not overly ripened red-and-black fruit quality, that is distinct from many of the expressions of the wine coming out of Spain.

The wine has notes of mid-palate complexity with balance between the fruit and medium-tannin.

Lovely.

Bottle Note: From the estate’s 30-year-old “La Tremenda” vineyard, this wine is 100% low-yielding monastrell grown at an altitude of 2,000 feet. Aged for six months in French oak, it has an elegant profile of fresh red cherries, sweet spice and a silky mouthfeel.