On the Plaza de Toros in Spain’s hot, eastern inland town of Yecla, Ramon Castaño Santana and his three sons are changing expectations of Yelca from rough, high-alcohol plonk to polished, elegant wines...This begins with the same sentence as the Wine of the Week because it comes from the same winery, Bodegas Castano. The 2003 Monastrell Dulce is produced from ungrafted pre-phyloxera vines in the style of Banyuls with fermentation stopped by the addition of alcohol.
“Dark and dense it releases an enormously fruity impression which will overpower anything else
brought within smelling range: aromas of sun-dried raisins (plums, sultanas, fig bread, caramelised milk pudding) and crystallized with a background of cocoa powder and thoughts of toffee. A plethora of scents which give it great complexity. On the palate it is dense, sweetish, generous with a surprising acidity which gives it freshness and does not feel exhausted, but leaves us with a long-lasting aftertaste of raisins. Tannins are there, but do not intrude. An exciting wine, seductive and provocative. Its perfection will be reached with desserts where chocolate predominates, caramelised puddings, blue cheeses (Stilton, Roquefort,Cabrales, Gorgonzola, Valdeón…) and with cream cheeses such as Torta de Casar or de la Serena.” --winery
“Inky, saturated violet. Deep scents of boysenberry, dark chocolate, licorice candy and molasses. Very rich on the palate, with broad, sweet dark fruit flavors enlivened by juicy acidity. An interesting forest floor note reminiscent of young vintage port joins the chewy dark berry flavors on the long finish, but the wine remains bright. 90 points.” –Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar
Also 92 points.–Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
Winery: Bodegas Castano
Vintage: 2003
Grapes: Monastrell (aka Mourvedre)
Country: Spain
Region: Alicante
Appellation: Yecla
Size: 500 ml
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