Description
Jose Maria planted Garnacha as an experiment about 10 years ago and this fresh, aromatic wine is the happy result. Casa Castillo El Molar displays notes of ripe fruit, toasty aromas and a medicinal herbs character, while being very fresh and direct. Perfectly integrated alcohol and oak, with very fine tannins and good acidity.
The sun baked landscape of Jumilla doesn’t immediately strike you as a place to produce graceful wines, with 300 days of sunshine per year and low rainfall. The secret which Jose María Vicente has discovered is the Levant native Monastrell (known as Mourvedre in France) which loves the chalky terroirs and cooler slopes of the Sierra del Molar. Jose María’s grandfather purchased the property in 1941, the original cellar was built by Frenchmen fleeing the phylloxera plague in 1870. Jose María and his father replanted the whole property with native varietals in 1985. They produce three single varietals and two single vineyard wines. Pie Franco, named after the un-grafted vines, is building a reputation as one of the best reds in Spain, and all the wines brilliantly combine finesse with the Mediterranean character of the zone.
