Casa Castillo: Cuvee N Old Vines Monastrell 2015

Parker om: Cuvee N Old Vines Monastrell

The second new wine from 2015 is an homage to Nemesio Vicente, the founder of the winery, and produced with the grapes from the first Monastrell vines he planted when he took over the property in 1981, aptly called 2015 Cuvée N. The grapes come from the higher part of Las Gravas vineyard, which fermented with part full clusters and with indigenous yeasts. The wine matured in used barriques for 18 months. The Cuvée N combines the ethereal character with the complexity, depth and backbone I found in the single-vineyard bottling from this very complete vintage. It doesn’t reach the finesse of the Pie Franco, but it surpasses the Las Gravas. There are notes of Mediterranean herbs with an earthy touch and the elegant rusticity the best Monastrell is capable of. This will not be a one-off, they are hoping to bottle it again in 2017, as they will only make it in Mediterranean vintages. The 2016 is extraordinary but from a more continental year, and the wines do not show the character they are looking for in this wine. 96/100