2015 Alto Moncayo Garnacha
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Tasting notes
Glass-staining ruby. A deeply perfumed bouquet evokes ripe dark berries, incense, vanilla and candied flowers, and woodsmoke and mineral elements emerge as the wine opens up. Sweet and expansive on the palate, offering concentrated blackberry, cherry cola, mocha and lavender pastille flavors that are given spine by a core of juicy acidity. Smoothly plays richness off elegance and closes very long and spicy, with a repeating vanilla note and velvety tannins lending gentle grip. All new oak, 65% French and 35% American.
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The eponymous 2015 Alto Moncayo is a ripe, powerful and concentrated old-vine Garnacha thathas 16% alcohol and matured for 20 months in brand new oak barrels, 65% French and the rest American. With that description, you can immediately guess the profile of the wine: a juicy, chewy, ripe and concentrated red with plenty of oak aromas and flavors. I found it fiercely oaky and balsamic, still very young and a little raw, in need of a good couple of years in bottle to calm down. It has a creamy character, with a lactic hint, a full-bodied palate and plenty of tannins. The oak is in the foreground and the tannins coat the inside of your mouth. It needs time. It's not my favorite style of wine, but within that style it's quite good. 58,200 bottles produced.
The 2015 Alto Moncayo is knockout stuff and a solid step up over the 2012. Aged 22 months in 20% American oak Hogsheads and 80% in new French oak, its deep ruby/purple color is followed by terrific notes of black raspberries, framboise, toasted spices, and flowers. It has full body, sweet tannin, and a sexy, seamless, elegant style that just begs to be drunk.