Casa Castillo Cuvee N Vinas Viejas, Jumilla, Spain

卡斯蒂洛酒莊N特釀老藤紅葡萄酒

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：892

There was no 2020 produced of this wine, so from the 2019 they jump to the 2021 Cuvée N, a wine they only produce in Mediterranean vintages. This was produced with 100% destemmed grapes (a change from previous years), as they were looking for a more classical style and wanting to make it a bit more different from Las Gravas, as this is 100% Monastrell from Las Gravas that is released one year later than the rest of the wines. It also had a longer élevage to polish the wine, which is quite powerful. But it is extremely elegant and balanced, serious, classical, varietal and mineral, with very chalky sensations in the palate and full ripeness with freshness and velvety tannins. This is now certified organic (like all wines from the 2020 vintage). This is the finest Cuvée N to date. 2,700 bottles were produced. It was bottled in July 2023 after it matured in used 500-liter oak barrels. This was only produced in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 and will not be produced in 2022, a year when they only produced 30% of the normal yields from the property, and 2023 is still a question mark.

The 2018 was not produced, so from the 2017 they jumped to the 2019 Cuvée N, a wine they only want to produce in Mediterranean vintages (so far only 2015 and 2017). This 2019 comes from a slightly atypical vintage, marked by torrential rains during the harvest. It was produced with grapes from north-facing vines planted at the end of the 1970s on sandy limestone soils covered with gravels. It fermented fully destemmed in underground stone pools with indigenous yeasts and matured in used 500-liter oak barrels for 16 months. The 2019s in general are more varietal than the 2020s, and they have good ripeness, with notes of aromatic herbs and ripe fruit (without excess), a medium to full-bodied palate with some grainy tannin and a whiff of spiciness from the élevage. 3,400 bottles were filled in March 2021. There will be no 2020 either, but the wine should come back with the 2021 vintage.

The 2017 Cuvée N is only the second bottling after the initial 2015 vintage, as the idea was to produce it only in the Mediterranean vintages (so, they didn’t make it in 2016 and won't make it in 2018 either). 2017 was an extraordinary year, and this is from the first 2.3 hectares of vines planted in the top part of Las Gravas. They did some fine-tuning, such as harvesting a little earlier so that the wine has kept great freshness, and the portion of full clusters probably helped there too. I found all the wines from 2017 very floral and elegant, giving a sensation of freshness. This wine is medium-bodied, fresh, elegant and perfumed, with very fine tannins, a subtle, chalky texture and clean, focused flavors that stay on your palate. This is remarkably fresher than the 2015, with red rather than black fruit. 3,200 bottles were filled in March 2019.

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. 3,000 bottles were filled in June 2017.