2007 Anglim Winery Mourvèdre, Hastings Ranch Vineyard				***
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Paso Robles, CA	$34	@ the Winery	12/10/09
	A medium-bodied, ruby-colored wine with a big nose full of ripe black fruit, earth and strong notes of white pepper. The palate is medium-bodied with flavors of blackberry, black cherry and plum with hints of minerals and a lingering pepper finish. Just released this wine took a bit of time to round out as it's still quite young and a bit tannic to start. (Was aged in 100% French oak/20% new.) Despite it's upfront spicy fruit flavors, it's a very elegant wine that opened up amazingly with our food. Paired it with Caramelized Cod with Citrus Celery Root Puree and Mustard, as well as Fried Chicken with Baby Brussel Sprouts and Mole. We were stunned that it worked so well with both, the spice of the food integrating perfectly with the wine. Haven't had that much success with a pairing in a long time. This is a wine that definitely needs at least 6mos to a year in the bottle to better integrate the spice with the fruit and round out the tannins. Will be getting more. (14.9%/233 Cases)

2007 Bogedas Juan Gil Monastrell				***
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Jumilla, Spain	$16	BevMo	5/31/10
	Popped and poured, the nose of this wine just leapt from the glass with aromas of red cherry, berries, earth, spice and hints of meat and cocoa. It's a medium-ruby color with a round, medium-bodied palate that had just the right amount of acidity to balance the ripe fruit flavors, which tempered over time, merging nicely with the spice, meat, mineral and mocha notes. It has something going on from front to back and a savory, lingering finish. It's rare to find a wine this well-crafted for this price and one that hides its 15% abv so well. Would easily cost double if made in California. Vintage matters in Spain and I enjoyed the 07 much more than the last two versions of this wine. I try it every year because I love Mourvedre and I know at the very least it will be interesting for the price. This one exceeded my expectations. Am going to grab a few more bottles to see if another year gives it a bit more cohesion. Great QPR. Do not miss this one.

2006 Cass Winery Mourvèdre				***
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Paso Robles, CA	$36	@ the Winery	3/29/09
	A medium-bodied, ruby-colored wine with a nose full of black fruit, earth and spice with hints of violets and vanilla. The palate is medium-bodied with moderate tannins and acidity. It's lush and round with flavors of blackberry, strawberry, sweet spice and smoke with notes of pepper and cigar wrapper on the lingering finish. This is a deeply intense, yet elegant wine that still needs time to fully unify. It shows the power and finesse this varietal is capable of and their offerings are the best I've had from this region. There will be no 2007, so we're going to savor every bottle we have. Thankfully they just continue to get better. Pushing 4 stars, just not there yet.

2006 Minassian-Young Vineyards Mourvèdre				*
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Paso Robles, CA	$22	@ the Winery	3/23/10
	A medium-bodied, ruby/garnet colored wine with aromas of red fruit, spice and hints of mocha and earth. The mouthfeel was pretty soft with low acidity and tannins and flavors that mirrored the nose, though with little perceptable fruit left. The finish was medium-length with notes of pepper, leather and chocolate and quite a bit of heat. While it was tasty with food, the wine just fell apart on its' own turning bitter and baked within the hour. Past its' prime, which is a surprise since the 04 was still good after 4 years. Drink it if you've got any and preferrably with food. (15.8% abv/98 cases)

2006 Senorio de Barahonda Heredad Candela Monastrell				**
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Yecla, Spain	$18	The Wine House	11/5/09
	A deep, ruby colored wine with a lush nose filled with aromas of ripe red berries, black cherry, earth, sweet spice and hints of leather. The palate was a bit tight, but rounded out nicely after we aerated it and was even better after a half hour in the glass. The flavors mirrored the nose with some additional hints of smoke and mocha on the moderate finish. At 15% abv the alcohol was initially throwing off some heat, but it balanced out wih time. Made from 100% old vine Monastrell, this wine really shows what the varietal is all about in a very classy way. One of the best Spanish versions I've had. Still quite young, I'd give this another year in the bottle to really shine. A better finish and I would have given it three stars. Am going to get another bottle to see if time will help. If made in CA this wine would cost $30. Great QPR and worth the extra money over their everyday version, which is good but not as deeply flavored.

2006 Senorio de Barahonda Monastrell Tinto				**
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Yecla, Spain	$11	The Wine House	4/18/08
	Deep purple wine with a youthful nose filled with blackberry, smoke, earth and pepper. The same flavors come through on the medium-bodied palate which just got smoother as the night went on. Additional notes of meat and vanilla along with the ripe fruit and spice. Long finish with well-integrated acid and tannin. Lacks depth in the midpalate, but elegant and flavorful for the price. Everyday drinking wines rarely get better than this. No one does under $20 bottles of wine better than Spain. Jump on the bandwagon by trying this wine.

2006 Tercero Wines Camp 4 Vineyard Mourvèdre				**
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Santa Barbara, CA	$28	@ the Winery	8/8/09
	A medium, ruby-colored wine with a subtle nose of red fruits, sweet spice and earth along with hints of cedar. The palate was restrained with flavors of cherry, blackberry and strawberry liquor with notes of meat, minerals and spice on the finish. While well-integrated and well-balanced, I was hoping for more depth of flavor and persistence from this wine. At 14.4% abv, it's certainly one of the more refined versions I've come across, but while I enjoyed the wine, I wasn't wowed by it either. It definitely got better as the night went on, so I would recommend decanting or aerating it to release the flavors. It certainly has plenty of life left and might get better with some more time in the bottle. This was the first harvest/bottling for winemaker/owner Larry Schaffer and I believe his wines are only going to get better since he's sourcing fruit from some of the best Rhone vineyards in the county. Am looking forward to the 07 vintage.

2006 Thompkin Cellars Mourvèdre				***
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Santa Barbara, CA	$33	CA Wine and Cheese	11/8/08
	A garnet-colored, medium-bodied wine with bright aromatics of ripe red fruit, earth and spice that carries through to the lush and well-balanced palate. Though fruity, the acidity keeps the wine from being too flabby. The flavors of raspberry, plum, cherry and spice with hints of chocolate on the lingering finish kept me coming back for more and purchasing a bottle. Wish I had bought two. A little more complexity would have knocked it out of the park. Only 25 cases were made, so if you find this one, buy it.

2006 Vinos Sin-Ley M2 Monastrell				**
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Alicante, Spain	$13	The Wine House	9/28/09
	One of five 100% Monastrells made by Vinos Sin-Ley, all from different regions and made by different winemakers this one by Salvador Poveda. A deep, ruby/purple-colored wine with a nose of brambly black fruit, earth, cherry and notes of herbs and minerals. The palate was fairly rustic and tannic upon first opening, so I aerated it, which helped soften the wine and integrate the flavors of blackberry, blueberry, minerals, sweet spice with hints of mocha and minerals on the moderate finish. More full-bodied and ripe than the M5 version. Didn't scream Monastrell, but a perfectly pleasant wine that delivers a lot for the money.

2006 Vinos Sin-Ley M4 Monastrell				**
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Bullas, Spain	$12	Cost Plus	2/4/10
	One of five 100% Monastrells made by Vinos Sin-Ley, all from different regions and made by different winemakers. This version was crafted by Luis Perez. It is a medium-bodied, ruby-colored wine with a subtle nose of berries, earth, smoke and a hint of tar. At 14.5% abv, I expected the wine to be more ripe and round, but it was farily restrained with flavors of blackberry, cherry, mocha, earth and smoke on the moderate finish. Had good acidity, but due to tank aging very low tannins. This wasn't my favorite of the series, it's a bit subtle for me, but it is well-constructed for the price. A wine for those tired of the usual cheap fruit bombs. Popped and poured, this wine was ready to go. Don't think it's going to get much better, since it's not really made to age, but it still has some life left.

2006 Vinos Sin-Ley M5 Monastrell				**
	Region	Price	Purchased	Drank
	Yecla, Spain	$14	The Wine House	10/15/08
	One of five 100% Monastrells made by Vinos Sin-Ley, all from different regions and made by different winemakers. This version is a medium-deep ruby-colored wine with a modest nose of ripe berry fruit, earth, leather and spices. The palate is bright with acidity and smooth tannins, medium-bodied, fruit forward with strawberry, blackberry, herbs, leather and pepper on the finish. There's nothing complex about this wine, but it's well-structured and more than just a fruit bomb, which at 15% it should be. The alcohol is not obvious on the nose or palate though it quickly had an effect on my brain. A nice QPR wine that peaked my interest in numbers 1-4.

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