Wine Abuse: TN: 2003 Bodegas Olivares Monastrell Altos de la Hoya Finca Hoya de Santa Ana

  • 2003 Bodegas Olivares Monastrell Altos de la Hoya Finca Hoya de Santa Ana - Spain, Murcia, Jumilla (10/10/2018)
    Wine abuse. I bought this well over 10 years ago. I needed to fill up my wine locker at Morton’s with cheap stuff so that when they called me and said that some cheapskate from Wineberserkers was there and wanted access to my locker, I could tell them to give them a bottle of this. Probably cost me about $8 a bottle. No temp control in the locker. Fast forward to a few years ago. Morton’s is closing their White Plains location and they call me to come get my wine. I know there’s nothing valuable in there and I am very busy so I miss the deadline. Fast forward a couple years and Morton’s opens a new location in White Plains. My son wants to go there for his birthday steak last weekend, so we do, and lo and behold, they have a box with my name on it, also not in a temperature controlled room. They give it to me to bring home. My wife selected this bottle to marinate a pork roast but only used a few ounces so we drank the rest.

Very good. Reaching the beginning of tertiary maturity. There is emerging fruit. No bite or bitterness. My son described it as slightly raisiny. I thought there was late blooming dark cherry with maybe a touch of raisins. Like an older British style claret. Slightly maderized, but only enough to add some flavor. Smooth and no negatives. More proof that wine can survive the zombie apocalypse. (88 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Yes but TWA rated this 100, higher than Sierra Carche, so you lost 12 points.

I doubt it, since a bottle of this went for $10 on Winebid in 2009.

The Rare Wine Company site indicates that these are ungrafted old vines growing in sand in Jumilla.