Carchelo Jumila
Wine: Carchelo Jumila
Grape: Monastrell
Region: Jumila, Central Spain
Vintage: 2007
Price: $9.99
In the glass: Carchelo Jumila is a deeply opaque, inky purplish-red color with a deep violet to pink rim definition, showing its youth and "long-legged" painted high viscosity.
On the nose: The wine displays freshly crushed red and black berry fruit, wild cherries, sloe fruit, crushed peppercorns, spices, wood, jerky meat and gravelly, slightly earthy minerals.
On the palate: Carchelo Jumila is a massive spice and fruit bomb with lots of peppery black fruit, bell peppers, earthy minerals and full-bodied tannin characteristics that, although being very youthful and present, are not obtrusive. The midpalate is quite supple with fat, red juicy fruit, and the finish is a lovely study in classic monastrell with fruit, earth and spice lingering for a full 15-plus seconds.
Odds and ends: If you love wines from the Cotes du Rhone in France, Carchelo Jumila is like one of those on red fruit steroids. While monastrell wines are not common in America, they are made from a classic French grape varietal called mourvedre. Because the wine is very young and from high-altitude vineyards, it could use a couple of hours out of the bottle before consumption. It is a medium-bodied and masculine wine that should drink well for another five to six years. Try it with a piece of grilled buffalo tenderloin, the way they cook it at Alain Ducasse's Mix Restaurant.
Gil Lempert-Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89016-0749, or e-mail him at gil@winevegas.com.
