Monday, April 13th, 2009
89/B+
Tasted by Mike Supple - 29 Jan 2009
Dark purple core with a bright ruby rim that stains the glass. Big aromas of blackberry and blueberry are lifted from the glass by a crushed rose petal note, all surrounded by dark wet stone, game and a touch of smoke. Very floral on the palate with dark charcoal and chocolate notes rushing in around ripe blackberry. Great acid on the mid-palate and a spicy, creamy, nutmeg and vanilla finish.
The acid core of this wine screams for food while the dense, dark, smoky fruit says “whatever you eat, make steak and put it on the grill.” Garnacha (Grenache) is the staple of the Calatayud region in northeast Spain. Recent developments in winemaking (fermenting in steel, aging in new oak) have changed the local style to a more robust, clean and powerful red. The Atteca is a great example of this style, and by using old vines (80-120 years) they get intensity of flavor while maintaining fantastic balance. Grenache of this intensity from just a few miles further northeast (such as Chateauneuf du Pape) would easily cost twice the price.
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Tags: 2007, aragon, atteca old vines garnacha, blackberry, blueberry, bodegas ateca, calatayud, charcoal, Chateauneuf du Pape, chocolate, cream, floral, game, grenache, nutmeg, purple, red wine, rose petal, ruby, smoke, spain, spice, stone, vanilla
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Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
89 / A-
Tasted by Mike Supple - 14 Feb 2008
Dark purple core with a tinge of pink on the rim. A bit reductive on the nose, but gives way to blueberry, raspberry, black cherry and lighter strawberry aromas after a few minutes. Cedar spice, leather and slate support the dark fruits. On the palette the wine is medium to full bodied leading to fairly bold tannic structure on the finish. Perfumed notes of baby powder and rose petals lead to plum and black cherry on the mid-palate with a darker finish of cedar, leather, wet earth and slate.
This wine takes a very long time to show its true value right now. It needs to be open for several hours before being agreeable, but once open for a couple of days the aromas and flavors really started to come out. Good quality wines from Chateauneuf often cost a lot of money. This is priced very reasonably and will be a very good wine with another 3 or so years in the bottle. However, if you don’t have that patience, pour it into a decanter (or any large pitcher with space for oxygen) and give it several hours.
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Tags: blueberry, cedar, Chateauneuf, Chateauneuf du Pape, cherry, cinsault, clos, Clos de l'Oratoire, france, grenache, leather 2005, mike supple, mourvedre, oratoire, Pape, raspberry, red wine, Rhone, rose, rouge, Southern, strawberry, Syrah, wine
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