Saturday, April 14, 2012

Juan Gil 2005 Silver Label Monastrell (Spain)

I told you I'd be having the same wine tonight, but from a different year - and what a difference a year makes ... where last night's wine had many dried fruit qualities this one was all fresh fruit, big tannins and lots of spice.  Right from the get go you could tell this wine was big, the black fruit was massive: blackberry and spiced black cherries led the charge, with a hint of licorice and allspice on the nose. The palate brought all that to the table and more: black pepper seasoning every sip, there was all that dark fruit and spice notes wrapped up in some pretty hefty tannins.  This wine was a heck of a lot more robust and spicy than last night's effort, and as the wine sat in the glass, instead of drying out, it seemed to develop more and more dark fruit character and a certain kind of juiciness, tempered by the pepper and spice.  Be interesting to see what the wine is like in a year when it reaches the age of its 2004 counterpart ... but right now this is one ballsy and beautiful wine.


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