Product Description
"THE WINE IS JUST AMAZING" – ROBERT PARKER
"Spanish producers never cease to amaze me with the high level of quality they can get into a bottle for a tiny price! We now have this delicious 92 point Monastrell / Cabernet Sauvignon / Garnacha Tintorera blend that Robert Parker himself described as ‘amazing’ for less than $10! Every time we get the Bodegas Castano Solanera Yecla in stock, it flies out the door. We were selling this wine for $13.99, but we got a great deal and are passing the savings on to you! Don’t hesitate, because once this deal is gone, it’s gone!" – Jim Knight, The Wine House (6/20/17)
VARIETIES: Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha Tintorera
APPELLATION: Yecla
FARMING: Sustainable with organic practices
ELEVATION: 800-900 meters
AGE OF VINES: 15-40 years
SOIL: Clay limestone
FERMENTATION: Fermented in stainless steel tanks
AGING: 10 months in French (80%) and American (20%) oak barrels
ABOUT CASTAÑO – FROM THE IMPORTER
The Castaño family are the original pioneers of the DO Yecla. Starting in the 1950s Ramón Castaño Santa, with an extensive family history of viticulture, built the first modern winery in the region and over the successive decades he added to his family’s holdings so now the estate encompasses 450 hectares of primarily old, bush vine Monastrell. Starting in the 1980s the family began bottling wines under their own name continuing to innovate and improve the reputation of Monastrell from Yecla in domestic and export markets. Before this time, the majority of the wine made in the region was sold off in bulk so much of the best, old-vine material was blended away before anyone could take note of its quality.
The wines selected by European Cellars are primarily sourced from the northern part of the DO where the soils are poorer, rockier and the elevation is higher. The vine age ranges from 30 to over a hundred years old. The Monastell is aged entirely in tank to retain the fresh crunchy characteristics of the variety. Hécula, born from older vines with a more brooding character is tempered by aging for 6 months in a combination of French and American oak, it takes its name from the old Roman name for Yecla. Solanera is a custom, old-vine cuvée created under the direction of Eric Solomon which blends low-yielding Monastrell grown on the rockiest soils of the DO with Cabernet Sauvignon and Garnacha Tintorera. It is aged in 80% French and 20% American oak barrels for 10 months.
