CASTAÑO MONASTRELL 2015
DOP YECLA
Available at Lidl, priced at +/- 5€
Continuing with the Summer Reds theme, this month I’m recommending a lovely, easy drinking wine, though this time, without any oak ageing.
However, don’t let the phrase ‘easy drinking’ make you think that this wine is just a glugger – no way! The Castaño Monastrell 2015 recently struck Gold when the annual DOP Yecla Competition Medals were handed out! And I can certainly confirm this – I was one of the Judges!
It really isn’t too bold a claim to say that Bodegas Castaño’s wines were probably the prime movers in placing DOP Yecla on the World Wine Map. It’s also true to say that, in doing so, they made a major contribution to the export efforts of all Spanish wine producers, particularly the less famous ones.
There has been an enduring love affair between the Castaño family and the indigenous Monastrell grape variety – practically all red wines from this exemplary bodega have at least some Monastrell in the blend. This wine is a ‘monovarietal’, using 100% Monastrell, picked from old vines which grow in some of the highest vineyards in the DO.
The result is a lovely, brilliantly coloured, juicy refreshing wine, with notes of ripe plum fruit with perhaps a little fresh picota cherry in there too. And the added value? – it can be served slightly chilled too! Summer reds rock!
Enjoy!
Colin Harkness
International Wine Judge,
Writer, Broadcaster & Critic
Twitter @colinonwine
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