La Atalaya Camino, 1.5L (MAG), 2021

Description:

The Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet) is one of the few grape varieties with red flesh. It is well-known that most red varieties have white flesh but there are a few exceptions to this rule, where we can find strongly-coloured grapes which produce wines of an unusual intensity.

The Garnacha Tintorera (85%) and Monastrell (Mourvèdre) (15%) grapes used to make La Atalaya del Camino are collected from vineyards in the Almansa region at altitudes between 700 and 1,000 metres. The sandy soils there with a strong presence of limestone, together with the huge temperature differences found at these heights, ensure the grape harvest is of exceptional quality. The two varieties of grape are fermented separately, in stainless steel tanks for about 20 days at a constant temperature of 25°C., to give a wine with a great complexity which, after twelve months in French oak barrels, displays a striking character.

Tasting Notes:

It is virtually impossible to see anything through a glass of La Atalaya del Camino. The intense character of the grapes produce such an opacity and viscosity that the wine seems to want to stay in the glass. It gives off intense aromas of liquorice and ripe black fruit, with tones of anise, blue flowers, black olives and Indian ink. If you close your eyes, it’s easy to imagine blackberry jam, violets, fresh mint leaves, and even a hint of a forest with Herbes de Provence and pine resin. This wine is silky on the palate from start to finish, with strong but pleasant tannins.

Give this wine time, decant it and swirl it around your glass. On aeration, its sensations grow and its aromas multiply, placing this old-vine red wine among the most original wines of the Iberian Peninsula. This wine can also be kept for several years and will continue to improve.

Wine Pairings:

Ideal with rice dishes with game and honeyed meat, stewed vegetables, mushrooms, game and poultry, casseroles, smoked foods, cured and blue cheeses, grilled and barbecued white and red meats.

91 Points; Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

Technical Sheet