On to the wine. Cabrida is from old vine Garnarcha in Monsant, each vine only gives up about half a kilo of fruit leading to a very concentrated and rich wine. New french oak for 14 months, then into bottle. I had thought that the picture on the bottle was of kangaroos and wondered what that was all about. But they are actually mountain goats…

A rich nose, full of sweet fruit notes: raspberry and bright red cherry, followed by hot rocks, rose and old black tea, earthy spices and a little herb.  Highly concentrated with sweet fruit on the mid palate with a savoury finish showing minerals, tangy fruit and a touch of spice. A thrilling ride, that is a little more fruit forward that the Santa Cruz de Artazu, but shows all the characters of an excellent garnarcha. 93 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Cost: $140 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.cellercapcanes.com

I had the Movida book out to make a tortilla de bacalao (a ‘Spanish omlette’ made with salt cod rather than potatoes). It worked out OK, very tasty but my presentation needs some work. Its a great book, I think it is almost my most used Spanish cookbook now…

The nose is like a layered tiramisu with a fruit filling: vanilla, espresso coffee, chocolate, raspberry, cherry, violets, roses and cold tea. It’s the kind of thing that I could sit and just smell all day, it’s open and inviting, a bit sunny but earthy at the same time. In the mouth its lush and textured with smooth tannins. The acid seemed to take a back seat at first, however give it a few minutes and the acid appears to show excellent balance. To me, this is a wine that is built for food, pork specifically. Excellent stuff. 94+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $100 Closure: Conventional Cork

I’m a bit over Priorat/Monsant garnacha at the moment (although I do have a bottle in the tasting pile): too expensive, too extracted, too hyped. I’m sure I’ll get over it soon, but it seems that the every time I buy or drink a wine from Prioratlately, I’m just a little underwhelmed. I find that I get much better bang for my buck in the Douro if I’m looking for something shisty. Anyway, this is a ripping wine that has filled the vacuum perfectly.

The nose starts off with some medicinal herbs, crush rock, raspberry and bright cherry and some pink musk stick. A bit of raspberry leaf and a touch of chocolate creeps in with more air. Medium bodied with light tannins, minerally acid and a touch of richness on the palate. The fruit is concentrated but well balanced. Meaty notes with more of that bright cherry and raspberry, with some spice and gentle wood notes. Some darck chocolate notes apear after a while, as does some sage. While it’s not cheap, it’s fine drinking for this time of year. Plus it’ll do a couple of years in the cellar. Easy. 92 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $65 Closure: Conventional Cork

Other Vintages: 2003, 2004

I love the colour, bright pinky red. Grenache is a very handy grape for rose wines, it tends to give you flavours more in the raspberry range than strawberry, but a few wild herbs to keep things interesting. That describes this wine perfectly: the nose is full raspberry, with a bit of strawberry and red apple with a touch of wild herbs. It’s kind of juicy and textured in the mouth, with an acid kick. Straight forward and bone dry, it shows good intensity and bold flavour for a rose. Very good with food too, I had this with a roast chicken and it matched up beautifully. 89 Pts.   

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $20 Closure: Screwcap

The 2003 edition of this wine was a cracker, no doubts about it. The milder 2004 vintage hasn't been as generious, but Telmo has managed to produce a quailty wine none the less. The nose is great, almost a direct copy of the 03, but there are some serious tannins here.  A bit lower in alcohol as well, 15% for the 2004.

Aromas of violets and finely integrated oak, raspberry and a touch of mulberry and mocha. Loads of finely grained tannins, started off a bit green to, this moved off with more air and was much better on the second night. Raspberry, pepper, anise, red been paste, with more air it develops a meaty quality.  A long, but drying, finish shows some minerals. This needs 3 years in the cellar to come around and soften those monster tannins. 90 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $65 Closure: Conventional Cork

Other Vintages: 2003

Rocks, plums, earth and tar to start with, then a bit of pepper followed by raspberry leaf.  A sarsaparilla note appears with some more time.  Medium bodied and easy to drink, light tannins.  Raspberry, dark cherry with some ink and roast meet.  Not something to think about really, but something nice to drink out in the sun.  87 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $19 Closure: Conventional Cork

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

I do prefer this style of garnarcha or grenache. Its very dry and full of concentrated flavours, while not jammy or over-ripe.  While we have some great old vine grenache based wines here in Aus, there are some real shockers that could learn a thing or two from these guys.

Deep red with a ruby edge.  Aromas of creme de cassis, earth, raspberry, sarsaparilla, cinnamon and coffee. Cool and clam in the mouth with some powdery, chalky tannins and zingy acid.  Plum, blueberries and raspberries on the palate with a hint of tar, minerals and herbs.  The finish is a bit short, but its not the end of the world.  89 Pts.

Source:  Toro/Woods Wines Price: Around $25 Closure: Conventional Cork  

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

Web: www.bodegasaragonesas.com

Anyway, Artazuri is a project from the good people at Artadi, the famed Rioja producer.  100% Garnacha with a little skin contact for that lovely colour.

Looks like petrol in the glass, the old unleaded stuff.  A subtle nose of strawberry, mountain herbs, a little bit of earthiness and raspberry.  Crisp and fresh in the mouth with a pleasing level of acid, good weight and texture.  The palate mimics the nose for the most part, subtle and dry with a mid-length finish.  Excellent with food.89 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $20 Closure: Conventional Cork

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

Web: www.bodegasaragonesas.com

Gran Feudo is an old favorite, its dirt cheap and you can buy it in the supermarket.  Perfect with antipasto or cheese to start off a BBQ or with a paella or salmon.  It looks kind of flash in its tall clear bottle that shows off the colour, I didn't get to take a photo of this bottle before it was all gone! 

Its made from garnarcha and fermented on skins for a day or so until the colour is a deep pink.  

Deep, but bright pink in colour.  The nose is filled with strawberries, with some other red berries for backup.  In the mouth its tart light cherry with some darker fruit in the background and shake of white pepper on the finish.  And don't worry, theres no sugar.  Nice and dry with enough acid to freshen up your mouth as your shovel in some more paella.  87 Pts.

Source: Retail Cost: $13 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.chivite.com

Bodegas San Alejandro is a co-op in D.O. Calatayud.  The vines are 70-100 years old, truly earning their vinas viejas title.  The wine sees 10 months in oak, with only 10% of that being new oak.  If you grab a bottle of this, have a look at the quality of the cork, it is outstanding, one of the best corks I've seen.

The wine comes up as a bright cherry colour in the decanter and reveals slightly muted aromas of light cherry, minerals and lavender.  After an hour or so, the nose builds some extra intensity.  Very smooth and easy to drink. If you are used to low acid grenache your in for a shock, there is a lot of acid here which allows it to work every well with food.  There is sweat fruit in the mouth, red cherry, with some minerals and woody herbs.  The finish shows some light, soft tannins.  At $25 its good value.  88 Pts.

Source: Winestar Price: $25 Closure: Conventional Cork

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

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