Casa Monfrare Monastrell - Cabernet Sauvignon Barrica 2004, D.O. Valencia

Colour: intense red with purple.
Nose: expressive, warm, spicy vanilla, smoke, but also lots of red ripe fruit, some sweet spicy nuances of oak, nice intensity, some complexity, even a touch of elegance, very clean nuances.
Taste: warm, spicy, good intensity with some tannins, a slight touch of chocolate and balsamic nuances, supple middle palate, oaky vanilla, good fruit and some raisins, well balanced and clean.
Finish: a little touch dry, but compensated by good juicy fruit, spices, wood (vanilla), warm and pleasant.
 

* Young, ecologically produced red wine from a warm region in Spain, expressing its provenance nicely, warm and wood aged character, with emphasis on ripe red and spicy fruit, quite supple and balanced, easy drinking with attractive character.

- This wine is drinking very well at the moment, will keep on doing so for a year or two, not a wine that will benefit from ageing, it lacks the backbone and strong acidity to withstand the years.

- Spain is on the move forward and upward, this wine shows it. There is also a growing interest in ecological production. Especially in this warm and dry area there are great opportunities for this type of viticulture. Produced form 80% Monastrell (cousin of the stubborn Mourvèdre grape of Bandol) and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged for just 3 months in wood (barriques). The 2003 vintage of this wine was clearly more astringent. This producer is fine tuning its wines for the ever demanding export market. The other wines of this producer also show successfully that modern, affordable and easy drinking wines can be of good and interesting quality expressing the grape and terroir of the vineyards. They also show environmentally responsible produced wines can match wines produced by any other method. And that is good news for both the wine lover and the world.
 

- lotnr.: CJ 0705

- tasted: 16-06-’05

- estimated retail price ca. 6,5 euro

- average production: 25.000 bottles

- Bodegas Los Frailes, Mr. Daniel Villanueva, Fontanars dels Alforins, E-46635  Valencia, España. Export manager tel.:  mobile: + 32-473 73 13 51; Fax (Spain): + 34-96 336 31 53; e-mail: d.villanueva@bodegaslosfrailes.com; web site: www.bodegaslosfrailes.com