Monday, March 21, 2016

Issue XL: Juan Gil 12 Meses [Monastrell] Edition

Juan Gil 12 Meses [Monastrell]



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.