2017 OLIVARES "ALTOS DE LA HOYA" MONASTRELL JUMILLA

2017 OLIVARES "ALTOS DE LA HOYA" MONASTRELL JUMILLA, SPAIN. 95% Monastrell (Mourvedre), 5% Garnacha (Grenache)

This dark-fruited Spanish red gets its concentration and brooding, earthy spice from very old dry-farmed, ungrafted Monastrell (aka, Mourvedre) vines planted to the sandy soils of Jumilla in Castille-La Mancha, Spain. A dash of 10% Garnacha adds red fruit highlights and aromatic lift to this delicious value. A natural fermentation in stainless steel was followed by aging in a combination of used French barrique and larger oak vats, promoting the development of texture and depth. A consistent winner of *Top Value* awards from the leading critics, this food-friendly, flavor-packed red is a match made in heaven with barbecue. Top Value!

90 points Wine Advocate: “The 2015 Monastrell Altos de la Hoya is dry-farmed, ungrafted, old Monastrell with some 5% Garnacha fermented in 10,000-liter stainless steel vats with indigenous yeasts and aged in used barriques and larger oak vats for six to eight months. This is more serious and has more depth and concentration, with black fruit and the oak nicely integrated into the wine. There are mineral notes of graphite and earth and a medium-bodied palate with fine-grained tannins and a tasty finish. Olivares is one of the most reliable producers in Jumilla. Very good value for money. They have recently changed the design of all their labels." (12/2017)

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: "This is one of the wine world’s most amazing values"

Wine Advocate: "…The Altos de la Hoya is a perennial Best Buy in this journal" and "Olivares was created back in 1930 in Tobarra, a village in the north east of the Jumilla appellation. They are in the third generation of the Olivares family who work 275 hectares in their Hoya de Santa Ana estate and produce around 800,000 bottles per year." (02/2015)

Wine Advocate: “…One of the great values in the marketplace…"