Zestos Old Vine Garnacha 2011
-
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A staggering value, Patrick Mata brings in 10,000 cases of the 2011 Zestos Garnacha Old Vines, which was vinified in a combination of stainless steel and cement tanks. Made from old vine (over 40 years of age), high altitude (2800 feet) Grenache, this head-pruned vineyard planted on granite soils has produced an unbelievable wine for the price. Lots of kirsch, strawberry, black currant and licorice aromas jump from the glass of this medium-bodied, richly fruity, surprisingly intense red.
'Zestos' means 'basket' in English. Not too many years ago, baskets like the ones depicted on these labels were used to transport grapes from the vineyard to the wineries. If you love red wines of tension that exhibit purity and finesse or white wines of complexity and tremendous value you will find Bodega Zestos to be your new love. In the words of Robert M. Parker, Jr, the most influential wine critic in the world, Zestos is "A staggering value".
Zestos produces from organically grown Malvar vines 35+ years of age and Garnacha vines that were planted in 1969 in the high elevation vineyards of San Martin de Valdeiglesias – northwest of Madrid. Zestos also produces wines in the southeast region of Madrid in the town of Arganda del Rey, within the Arganda subregion.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.