2007 Aquilon

The 2007 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Aquilon is 100% Garnacha and sports an inky, opaque purple color as well as a blockbuster, gorgeous bouquet of blackberry and cassis fruit that’s intermixed with graphite, licorice, roasted meats, smoke and chalky aromas. It’s ripe and borderline decadent but also restrained, classy and, dare I say, elegant. On the palate, the wine is full bodied with a stunningly smooth texture, seamless integration of the fruit, alcohol, acid and tannin and a long, silky finish. Based off of the ’05, which still tastes like a barrel sample, this should have a long life ahead of it. I followed this bottle over three days and did blind tasting after blind tasting – it was always the cream of the crop. The straight Moncayo and Veraton are very similar (don’t kid yourself and frankly, at the price, the straight Moncayo is the no brainer here) but neither showed the level of integration and balance of this wine. Simply stunning!

(100% garnacha) Inky purple. Powerful, mineral-driven aromas of cherry, blueberry, violet oil, licorice and minerals, with a strong overlay of Asian spices. Large-scaled yet elegant, offering sweet dark berry flavors and exotic notes of candied flowers and fruitcake. The mineral element drives the finish, which is broad, sweet and focused. Offers an uncanny blend of power and finesse.

The flagship 2007 Aquilon is 100% Garnacha from hillside vineyards planted between 1910 and 1967. It was also aged for 17 months in new French and American oak. A glass-coating opaque purple/black color, it offers up a brooding bouquet of tar, licorice, pencil lead, Asian spices, black cherry, and black raspberry. Dense, layered, incipiently complex, and powerful, it is more structured than the Alto Moncayo and will benefit from 5-7 years of additional cellaring. It will offer a drinking window extending from 2015-2037. Apr 2010, www.robertparker.com