Campo de Borja
Coto de Hayas Tinto 2006
We are coming into BBQ season at the moment and this a good wine to kick things off. Grab some lamb chops and a bottle of this to kick off a quiet night at home mid week. Maybe some a salad if you want to be healthy. This is a joven wine, made mostly from Garnacha but with a bit of tempranillo, syrah and cabernet thrown in for good measure.
Quite dark in the glass, ruby out on the rim. Aromas of sunny black and red berries, mostly raspberries with some raspberry leaves and pepper. Fairly smooth, firmly in the middle weight class with some light tannins. Raspberries, a bit of mineral and some herbs. Good length on the finish. Good BBQ fare. 86 Pts.
Source: Toro/Woods Wines Price: Around $15 Closure: Conventional Cork
Coto de Hayas Crianza 2003
An interesting blend of 60% Garnarcha and 40% Tempranillo from Campo de Borja. It gets 8 months in French oak. I seem to prefer the straight Garnarcha wines from this region more, but this was a good mid-week glug for the price.
Deep, dark red in the centre of the glass, with some purple moving towards the edges. Highly perfumed on the nose with plums, dark cherries, some raspberry leaf, pepper and some purple/blue flowers. With a bit of time, a wack of coffee oak starts to dominate the nose. In the mouth the wine is rich, open and shows good oak tannins. The palate for the most part mirrors the nose, the fruit looks a little baked however. There is a bitter herbal note on the finish. Well made, but seems a bit all over the shop at this stage. 86 Pts.
Source: Toro/Woods Wines Price: Around $20 Closure: Conventional Cork
Telmo Rodriguez Pegaso Garnacha 2003
For some reason I haven't seen this wine around town, its kind of been under the radar. More likely I'm just not going to the right places. Anyway, its a cracking wine, one of the best garnarchas I've seen. Pegaso is produced from an old vineyard, high in the hills of Castille near a little town called Brinas. The vineyard is full of slate and sits at 1000 meters above sea level.
A vibrant ruby red in the glass, showing aromas of sweet raspberry and cherry, subtle spicy oak, winter green herbs, and earth. Really refined in the mouth, rich and silky with great balance. On the palate the wine shows raspberry and cherry fruit jubes with pepper and spice, woody herbs and roasted meats. Ripe fruit, savory finish and great balance make this great drinking right now. You could put it away, but I'd drink now. 92 Pts.
Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $65 Closure: Conventional Cork
Coto de Hayas Reserva 2002
Another wine from the Garnarcha Empire. I'm finding wines from Campo de Borja are becoming a bit of a favourite for me. They are consistently very good, intriguing wines that have bags of character and layers of flavour. This one is made from old vine Garnarcha and aged in a mix of American and French oak for 14 months.
A soft nose of earth, light spice, smoke and red berries. Silky smooth in the mouth with light tannins and good length. The flavours on the palate are the real show here, layers of flavour as the wine continually opens up. Chocolate, cola, clove, raspberry, cherry brandy, roast meat and wintergreen. Great now, I'd drink this over the next 3-5 years. 90 Pts
Source: Toro/Woods Wines Price: Around $30 Closure: Conventional Cork
Coto de Hayas Garnarcha Centenaria 2004
We went out to a tasting of the 04 Penfolds at Boccaccio last night and bought home a bottle of the 138 GSM to taste along side this wine. Not fair on the Penfolds really, this wine is made from 100 year old vines in a completely different style and a step up in price for the Coto de Hayas. Who says you can't compare apples and oranges. The 138 did very well and its a bit of a favorite at home, but you can read all about it on Winorama.
The Centernaria is a very low production wine from very old Garnarcha vines, there are only 5500 vines available to make this wine. It gets a quick dip in French oak barrels for 3 months, which would get it a title of media-crianza or roble in many other areas. I haven't been keen on this process for many wines, it can leave the wine full of oak without the benefit of limited oxygen contact that comes from extended aging in wood. No sign of that is this wine, the oak is very well hidden.
A brilliant ruby red in the glass, the nose offers up sweet raspberry fruit, woody herbs, violets and desert soil. An odd descriptor I know, but that's what it smells like. Smooth and silky in the mouth, not a lot of tannin to get in the way of the beautiful, juicy fruit. Loads of raspberry and cherry with rosemary, sage and a hint of roasted meat and minerals. Savory, but with loads of sweet fruit with good balance and medium length finish. A great wine for the price. 92 Pts.
Source: Woods/Toro Wines Price: Around $35 Closure: Conventional Cork
Coto de Hayas Rosado 2005
While its still warm I thought I'd have a look at some more Rosados. I have two from very different areas of Spain, but both very good. This one is from Campo de Borja and its made from a mix of Garnacha, Tempranillo and Cabernet. The free run juice has 6 hours on skins.
I noticed that one of the Spanish importers ran out of all of their Rosados in mid January, so this style must be getting popular. Many restaurants that have rose on their wine lists (still not enough of them do) have a Spanish Rosado as part of the list these days. Great with food and good quality for the price you pay, why wouldn't you grab a bottle to drink with your pasta or whatever it is you're chowing down on.
Bright pink with a lively sparkle to it. The nose is all strawberries and red cherries, no sign of sweetness, a bit of toffee. Lashing of generous red fruit in the mouth with some leafy herbs. While there is some sweet fruit, it savory and refreshing, everything in the right place and level. Light tannins on the finish, but its well balanced overall. Great with food or on its own. 88 Pts.
Source: Woods Wines/Toro Wines Price: Around $18
Closure: Conventional Cork
Alto Moncayo 2003
The last in my Garnacha trio from Campo de Borja, and I have saved the best for last. This is the mid level wine from this bodega, the top flight Aquilon was not made in 2003. A slight step up in price from the Veraton, this wine drinks like it has seem a lot more work in the winery and is built for aging. Oddly, out of the 3 wines, this needed the least time in the decanter to show it stuff.
Dark ruby in colour. The nose builds with time in the decanter with aromas of blackberry and mulberry, cinnamon and pepper with coffee and herbs. A bit more palate weight and concentration than the Veraton but it remains balanced. A great expression of ripe mulberry and blackberry fruit under a strong herbal influence and gamey, animal flavours. A bit of oak influence and black pepper pops up after about an hour in the decanter. Rich tannins and a sparkle of acid on the finish. Again a very persistent finish that keeps going for ever. If you are looking for something to cellar, I think this will be well worth your time in 5 years. 93 Pts.
Source: Winestar Price: $55 Closure: Conventional Cork
Alto Moncayo Veraton 2003
Wine number two in the Garnacha Trilogy. Alto Monayo produce 3 levels of wines, this is the first rung on the ladder. The venture is the brainchild of Jorge Ordonez who has Chris Ringland doing the wine making. Again the wine is 100% Garnacha, there doesn't appear to be a lot of oak treatment on this one. Remember to decant, it seems that the grenacha based wines from this area really benifit from a good hour or so.
Big heavy bottles seem to be in vogue in Campo de Borja, all three of these wines have thick heavy bottles with big punts and flashy labels. A real bugger to take of photo of, but they look great.
A brilliant ruby in the glass, with aromas of dark cherry and mulberry, cinnamon and pepper with a wiff of old leather. Smooth and well balanced in the mouth, there is a core of great mulberry and cherry fruit with some black pepper, herbs and gamey, animal nuances. Tannins are there, but well integrated and smooth. The acid was overbearing initially, more time in a decanter and the wine integrated really nicely. The finish is very long, surprisingly long. If you want to look at Spanish Grenache outside of Priorat, this is the bottle to pick up. Drink it over 5 years. 91 Pts.
Source: Winestar Price: $40 Closure: Conventional Cork
Borsao Tres Picos 2004
This is the first of three wines I tried over the weekend from Campo de Borja. All three are Garnacha, the leading grape from this region. From the stats I have it looks like most of the wines from Campo de Borja head out of Spain to the US, Parker is a big fan of some of the bodegas here apparently.
From my small amount of experience with these wines, they need a good decant. Not the thing to pull out when friends drop over unexpected. I found these wines to be all over the shop for the first hour or so, angular and hard with a bit of sweetness and lacking any real nose. A good 1 to 2 hour decant fixed this up nicely, bringing the fruit to the fore and opening up the nose.
A brilliant ruby in colour, the nose starts of slow with a balsamic character and builds in the decanter to reveal subtle blackberry and mulberry fruit with licorice and sooty, dusty earth. International in style, but the fleshy, fruit profile makes me think Spain. More blackberry and mulberry on the tongue, pepper and intense cinnamon develops with air, as does a medicinal herb note (wintergreen and sage). Good balance, there is a brief bit of heat on the finish. Built for drinking now I'd say. 90 Pts.
Source: Winestar Price: $40 Closure: Conventional Cork
Coto de Hayas Reserva 2001
Grenacha is the queen of Campo de Borja, in fact the regulator for the DO is calling the place 'the Granacha Empire', sounds like a good catch phrase to put on a license plate.
This is a co-op wine and a very good one at that. These guys produce about 30 wines from local and 'International' varieties, but grenacha is really where its at.The reserva is 100% grenacha from 40 year old vines and sees 15 months in a mix of american and french oak.
Medium cherry in colour. Dark fruits on the nose, cherry and plum, with some smoke and spice. Medium bodied in the mouth, more dark fruits but if you are looking for loads of fruit,your in the wrong place. There is some highlights of caramel, asian spices and a bit of earth. There is quite a bit of acid in there that makes the wine seem austere, it mellowed out a bit after 20 minutes in the glass. The tannins are quite soft play a supporting role, given a bit of time they develop into a good texture. Great with good pizza, it cuts through the cheese and handled the salami very well. 90 Pts.
Source: Boccaccio Cellars Price: Around $30 Closure: Conventional Cork
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