The colour is medium ruby. On the nose at first slightly meaty and quite alcoholic. Not too surprising given the 15% alcohol content. With some air, blueberries and blackberries appear and prevail for a short while. Later the dark fruits disappear and only some black pepper seems to be left. In the mouth rather rustic. At the end a pleasantly drying sensation, but not much aftertaste.
This wine is made by Rafael Cañizares, oenologist and founder of Bodegas Volver. Bodegas Volver creates wines under different denominations of origin: La Mancha, Alicante, Jumilla, Rueda, Almansa, Valencia and Rías Baixas.
Solnia is produced with Monastrell grapes under the Alicante DO and bottled by Old Cellar in Pinoso.
Monastrell/Mourvedre is usually used as a blending grape. It’s one of the major grapes of the southern Rhône/GSM blend, along with Grenache and Syrah. GSM is for example the core of the blend used to make Châteauneuf du Pape, which allows the use of up to 18 different grape varieties.
Monastrell/Mourvedre is hardly used as the main grape in producing wines. Notorious exemptions are Bandol (>50%) in France and Jumilla (>80%) in Spain.
On the etiquette the 90 points assigned to Solnia 2014 from Robert Parker are proudly displayed. For this wine I paid 9.95 CHF at Denner, 50% off from the regular price of 19.95 CHF.
Country: Spain
Region: Alicante
Grapes: Monastrell/Mourvedre
Type: Red
Vintage: 2014
Producer: Rafael Cañizares
Price range: Medium (15-30 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 3/5