The 2011 Beryna is 80% Monastrell with 20% Garnacha fermented separately in stainless steel tanks, aged for 14 months in French oak barrels and bottled in June 2013. The robe is a dark cherry color and the nose is very lactic, marked by the aromas of the French oak, sweet spices, cinnamon, blackberries and damsons. The light- to medium-bodied palate is fluid and rich, but the oak is still in the foreground and will require a few months to integrate better. An easy to drink, intelligent wine, representative of its origin and grapes that would please many consumers at a very good price point. 50,000 bottles produced. Drink 2014-2016. Bernabe Navarro is one of the most active, creative and experimental wineries in the Alicante region. It was created in 1999 by husband and wife Rafael Bernabe and Olga Navarro. They started with 40 hectares and a small winery on their property, Casa Balaguer in Villena, and own a further 30 hectares of vineyards in Finca Usaldon, all of them dry-farmed. They also have control over a further 3 hectares of white Merseguera and Moscatel de Alejandria in a traditional sub-zone outside the Alicante appellation, the natural park of La Mata in Torrevieja, a coastal, tourist zone 45 kilometers south of Alicante city. Rafael Bernabe, who left a life in business to go back to his passion and family roots in nature and agriculture, is merging his two wineries and projects into one, with the wines from Vinedos Culturales being more in the natural vein (no added sulfites, fermentation in amphora). Many different wines are produced in small quantities, trying to show the diversity of their terroir, with some unusual grapes, combining tradition with innovation, and the more traditional range of Bernabe Navarro, Beryna, Casa Balaguer, and a great pure Monastrell called Curro. They produce an average of 100,000 bottles per year, using natural yeast, carrying out gentle vinification and aging, intervening as little as possible with minimal or no addition of SO2. Various American importers, including Jose Pastor Selections; www.josepastorselections.com; Elite Wines; www.elitewines.net; and American Northwest; www.anwdistributors.com