Spain: Bobal, Monastrell, Garnacha, Tempranillo

This loosely connected lightening-tour tasting of half-a-dozen reds takes in a couple or so “modern classics,” kind of, ranging from northern Spain and heading towards the southeast coast, and all mostly made from sunny Med-red grape varieties. These wines are available from independent wine stores and on-line retailers supplied by UK importer and agent boutinot.com (more info there, they do also sell certain wines in the US): I've now updated it with a few outlets and approx prices. For total wisdom regarding my back-to-basics 1 - 2 - 3 "scoring system", just move your eyes a few cm to the right.

Miguel Gil



2009 Pasión de Bobal Utiel-Requena region (near Valencia: Bobal is native to this area) - juicy black fruits and spices, nice and lively mouth-feel, quite punchy too vs soft tannins. 1+
£11 Virginwines.co.uk, Selfridges, D. Byrne.

2009 Juan Gil Monastrell (= Mourvèdre/Mataro), Jumilla region - full-of-beans 'modern' red with spicy blackberry fruit and a touch of vanilla oak, again has that attractive rounded vs punchy combo. 2
£8 Noel Young, Great Grog.

2008 Clio Monastrell/Cabernet Sauvignon, Jumilla - still quite oaky yet has spicy attention-grabbing style with rich concentrated palate, dry vs sweet tannins/fruit to finish. 2
£35 Noel Young, Hanging Ditch.

2008 Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha, Campo de Borja - also quite smoky oaky vs juicy liquorice, peppery too with oomph and supple tannins, chocolatey yet lush-fruity mouth-feel. 2
£13 Wines of Interest, Woodwinters.

2009 Borsao Mítico Garnacha, Campo de Borja - enticing juicy vs chunky Grenache style, spicy and powerful vs sweet liquorice finish. 1+
£6 Asda

2009 Mesomeros de Castilla, Ribera del Duero - fairly tight and closed up, grainy texture vs intense berry fruit, fiery finish almost vs solid tannins, needs 6 to 12 months to express itself better but promising. 2
£9 Virginwines.co.uk, PW Amps.