This Week's Must-Try Wines from Vinous

Welcome to this week's Vinous Top Ten! Each week we compile a list of top ten wines from the Vinous database that you need to add to your wine wish list. With all the various regions, producers, and grapes, no week will be the same! All of the wines listed in this feature are available for purchase on Banquet . This week's must-try wines are from Josh Raynolds' article, Mediterranean Spain: Diversity and Consistency . Enjoy an excerpt from his article and his notes for this week's top ten below! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "The vast area that I’ve chosen to loosely define as Mediterranean Spain encompasses those regions that extend from northeastern Catalonia (Catalunya or Cataluña, as the area is known locally) to the country’s southeast corner and all the way west to Andalusia (Andalucía) on the far southwestern coast. With rare exception, these zones have been experiencing a run of almost uniformly very good to epic vintages, even as they produce wines of often dramatically divergent styles from equally disparate varieties." --Josh Raynolds, Mediterranean Spain: Diversity and Consistency, April 2019 1. 2016 Alvaro Palacios Camins del Priorat 2. 2015 Altamente Volalto Jumilla 3. 2014 Bodegas El Nido El Nido Jumilla 4. 2015 Bodegas Mustiguillo Finca Terrerazo 5. 2017 Edetària Blanca Via Terra 6. 2016 Heretat Mascorrubí Vi Blanc Teulera 7. 2017 Josep Foraster Trepat 8. 2016 Mas Martinet Menut 9. 2008 Primitivo Quiles Tinto Raspay 10. 2015 Venus La Universal Dido la Universal

Altamente

Volalto Jumilla Monastrell 2015

Delectable Wine
9.1

Opaque ruby. A sexy, expansive bouquet evokes ripe, spice-accented black/blue fruits, incense and smoky minerals. Sweet and energetic on the palate, offering juicy blackcurrant, boysenberry, spicecake and cola flavors that show very good delineation and spicy lift. Rich, yet lively and precise, finishing with solid thrust, resonating spiciness, and silky, slow-building tannins. (fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged for six months in used French oak barrels) (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago

Venus La Universal

Dido la Universal Montsant Garnacha Blend 2015

Delectable Wine
9.1

Vivid magenta. Smoke-tinged red berry and cherry pit aromas are complemented by suggestions of black cardamom and licorice. A hint of spicy cracked pepper sharpens raspberry and bitter cherry flavors that slowly turn sweeter with air. Focused and spicy on the penetrating finish, showing very good persistence and subtle, building tannins that provide gentle final grip. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago

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Mas Foraster

Josep Foraster Trepat 2017

Delectable Wine
9.0

Inky ruby. Displays aromas of fresh cherry and raspberry that are complemented by suggestions of succulent herbs, violet and cracked pepper. Juicy, focused and light on its feet, offering primary red fruit flavors that take a deeper turn on the back half. Closes on a bitter cherry note, with very good persistence and fine-grained tannins sneaking in slowly. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago

Alvaro Palacios

Camins del Priorat Grenache Blend 2016

Delectable Wine
9.1

Deep, lurid ruby. Powerful, mineral-tinged dark fruit liqueur, potpourri and woodsmoke aromas are complemented by a slowly emerging hint of licorice. Supple and broad in the mouth, offering vivacious black/blue fruit, violet pastille and spicecake flavors that deepen with air. The long, seamless, appealingly sweet finish is framed by round, even tannins and leaves dark berry and allspice notes behind. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago

Bodega Mustiguillo

Finca Terrerazo Vino de la Tierra El Terrerazo Bobal 2015

Delectable Wine
9.1

Inky ruby color. Ripe dark berries, singed plum, candied licorice and woodsmoke on the deeply perfumed nose. Made in a weighty, ripe style, offering bitter cherry, cassis and fruitcake flavors that are energized by a late jolt of spiciness. Broad, chewy and smoky on the clinging finish, which features mounting tannins and impressively persistent dark fruit liqueur character. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago

Mas Martinet

Menut Priorat Red Blend 2016

Delectable Wine
8.9

Deep ruby. High-toned dark berry, cherry and game qualities on the spice-tinged nose. Offers vaguely medicinal cherry and blackcurrant flavors that unfurl slowly and turn sweeter with air. Fine-grained tannins add gentle grip to the finish, which leaves notes of cracked pepper and dark chocolate behind. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago

Edetària

Via Terra Garnatxa Blanca 2017

Delectable Wine
9.0

Pale gold. Aromas of dried lemon, beeswax and jasmine, with a hint of fennel emerging with air. Chewy and dry in the mouth, showing very good depth and heft to its nicely concentrated citrus/orchard fruit flavors. Lingers with very good persistence, leaving notes of tangerine, pear skin and dusty minerals behind. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago

Bodegas El Nido

El Nido Jumilla Cabernet Sauvignon Monastrell 2014

Delectable Wine
9.5

Dark, bright-rimmed purple. A powerfully scented, deeply complex bouquet evokes mineral-accented boysenberry, cherry preserve, licorice, exotic spice and vanilla aromas that expand slowly with air. Stains the palate with sweet, deeply concentrated black/blue fruit, spicecake, mocha and candied violet flavors that show a surprisingly graceful touch for their heft. Velvety, steadily mounting tannins lend gentle grip to a broad, smoky finish that hangs on with superb, spice-driven tenacity. (aged in new French and American oak barrels for two years) (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago

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Primitivo Quiles

Raspay Reserva Alicante Monastrell 2008

Delectable Wine
9.0

Brilliant ruby-red. Ripe dark berry, vanilla and woodsmoke scents, along with a hint of peppery spices that builds as the wine opens up. Smooth and seamless in the mouth, offering plush, smoke-tinged blackberry and bitter cherry flavors that show very good breadth. Rich and vaguely decadent in character, with velvety tannins shaping the sweet, dark fruit-dominated finish. This decadent wine is ready to drink. (sourced from vines that are over 80 years old) (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago

Heretat Mascorrubí

Vi Blanc Teulera 2016

Delectable Wine
9.0

Bright yellow-gold. Highly perfumed, mineral-accented aromas of dried pear and lemon pith are accompanied by a suave floral topnote. Chewy, incisive and dry on the palate, offering bitter pear skin and quinine flavors that steadily flesh out on the back half. Shows firm tension and repeating florality on a long, nervy finish that leaves a Meyer lemon note behind. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago