A couple things in order on this one. First is the “meses”
part of this. “Meses” translates to months and is used here to denote how long
the wine was aged in French barrels prior to being bottles. The second is the
varietal itself. While not specifically mentioned, rather there is some
indication Jumilla, which is a wine region of Spain, is in the name, the grape
used is Monastrell, which is growing in popularity there. This is one of the best
parts of the HSC, at least from my perspective, a chance for me, in the name of
this column, to experience grapes I would never have dreamt of and certainly
never tasted otherwise.
This particular grape is a very dark, dense one, which
produces wine both high in alcohol, but also notable for its very earthy
aspects, dark violet color and a certain fullness to the body. This is yet
another of the so-called “heavy grapes”, which show up in the list. There’s
quite a lot going on here, from aspects of smoke, leather and toastiness to a
very smooth mouth feel (trying to find the alcohol here, despite its relatively
high content, can be a bit of a chore) to some very rich fruit flavors that are
at once reminiscent, yet difficult to pin down as they seem to shift a bit
between sips. That busy of a wine can be a bit off-setting and this is not one
of my wife’s favorites, yet I will happily and contentedly churn through a
bottle, marveling at the differences.
It rather defies comparison to a Syrah, lacking the characteristic
sweetness there and while a bit similar in heaviness to the other full-bodies
types, namely the big bad Cabs and the Zins, it has a completely different
taste and mouth feel. It is not, however, easy-going in that if you’re going to
get into this one, it’s a bit of a commitment. It’s not there to be idly
consumed; it’s there to be experienced. Its heaviness also plays into that and
it does not do well as a light, casual wine. It is, perhaps all in all, that
one wine that makes you wish you had a fireplace if you don’t already and that
the fireplace was lit and roaring and you in front of it, if you do.
Given that Standards have a bit of touch and go, namely that
if my wife isn’t a fan, it generally can’t be a Standard, unless I want to slug
and plug through a bottle solo (not averse to the idea, but she can get a
little weird if I do…), it’s best to confine that to wines we both can enjoy
and it’s not enough that I’d choose to make a stand over it. I’ve never seen it
on SPA and it’s relatively high price point also work against it there, so, for
all those factors, it comes in at a Mixed, albeit a highly enjoyable one.
