Casa Rojo Fauno Garnacha – A New Wine To Watch For

100% Garnacha from Priorat, Catalonia, Spain. Made from organic grapes.

This is a newly imported wine by ABS-One Shot in Houston, TX. According to the exporter it will have an SRP of $20. Sample submitted for review.

From the winery:

“Opaque purple/black with bluish tones. Floral violets with touches of black fruits, dark cherries, wild blue berries. Graphite, pencil head, hints of smoke. Damp earth, liquid minerality. Velvety polished tannins envelope a well structured wine. Dense, always expanding, long, with great depth and wide fruit range. This wine will improve for the next years.

14.5% Alcohol”

Today’s wine, while hard to find as distribution is just beginning to ramp up, is definitely worth the search. It’s easy to assume that only the best wines are distributed in the U.S. as it would seem logical that importers would seek all those out first. (And they do try.) However, like many things in the wine world, logic doesn’t necessarily apply and the fact of the matter is that there is a TON of really excellent wine that has no distribution in this country. That’s also why it’s refreshing to see a wine like today’s excellent Garnacha from Casa Rojo start to gain some traction here. Let’s hope that continues!

The 2009 Casa Rojo Fauno Garnacha begins with a wonderful aroma featuring tons of dark fruit, a hint of cinnamon spice and wisps of cedar and vanilla. Tasting the wine reveals very ripe and super rich fruit along with soft, dry, grippy tannins. This is a big, fruit forward wine but it also offers some nice complexity, especially on the dry, very long finish where pleasing mineral notes hang out underneath all the lingering fruit. This is exactly the type of big, jammy Garnacha that could do very well in this country if the price is right. And don’t be deterred by the limited distribution currently – ask your favorite retailer to seek it out!

See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.

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