Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha Vinas Viejas 2005

The Wine Advocate rating: 91

The 2005 Las Rocas Vinyas Viejas comes from high altitude, low yielding, 100+-year-old Grenache vines and is aged in French and American oak. More aromatic than its sibling, it has a splendid perfume of spice box, lavender, kirsch, and blueberry. It is also a bit richer and longer in the finish. While it may evolve for 1-2 years, who could resist it now? - Wine Advocate

Very solid buy, and fairly easy to find in most wine stores that have a decent Spanish wine selection. This is an intense wine. Very aromatic. Ripe berries, mocha and earth, gravel, and probably a number of other undertones that are there to be discovered, give it a great nose. Full-bodied, but not jammy, it has precision and complexity at an amazing price. I love to pull this one out for guests.

January 2009

from [URL=http://2daysperbottle.blogspot.com]2 Days per Bottle[/URL].The color is very dark purple-tinged crimson, but slightly translucent.The first impression on the nose is fruit and spice, and lots of both. It takes a little longer to separate them out. Cherries, cranberries, and dried orange peel are the fruit. Pepper leads the spice, but there is something else there, too. It's sage. The last smell on the nose is a very light background, adding nutty richness more than the clear smell, read more...of hazelnut liqueur.Oh gosh that interesting. Give me a minute. The palate is not as sweet as the nose. The fruit is cranberry juice and orange peel, with very little of the cherry from the nose. A little bit of charred meat, plenty of black pepper and toasted pecans make up the mid-palate. Sour cherries and cranberries appear, and then linger for a long time, on the finish, ending with a surprising aftertaste of red licorice. Tannins are very smooth.It will be interesting to see if some of the unsweetened-cranberry bitterness fades from Night One to Night Two. Join me and we will find out together.Night TwoMissed it. Sorry, I had a National Championship football game to watch, and my mighty Gators won it all! By Night Three, though, it was over the hill, slightly oxidized, and I can not fairly rate it.    (hide)

January 2009

No written review

March 2008

No written review

April 2009