Simon is likely not alone in believing that outlying areas of Spain can offer wines of great quality and value. The scale and availability of wines from Spain can, however, make the task of unearthing a new estate incredibly hard work. We are pleased to offer one such gem, 2010 Alfynal, Iberica, Bruno Prats at £125 per six bottle case in bond.
I recently read about a Spanish project undertaken by Bruno Prats, formerly of Bordeaux’s Château Cos d’Estournel. Since leaving Cos, Monsieur Prats has embarked on winemaking projects in South Africa, Chile, Portugal and Spain. This latest venture, Alfynal, allegedly will be his final winemaking project, as promised to his wife. Echoing this agreement, the leading wine from the Iberica project is aptly named ‘Al Fynal’ (the final). Whether the name lives up to its billing remains to be seen! Alfynal is a fascinating wine, made from 100% Monastrell (known as Mourvèdre in the south of France) sourced from old vine, high altitude vineyards in Alicante. Like Monsieur Prats, I am a huge fan of Monastrell – it is so often employed in a blend with Syrah or Grenache and yet it can stand alone – particularly when the fruit comes from old established vines. Anyone familiar with the wines of Bandol in the south of France should fully concur.
Monastrell is a thick-skinned grape variety which produces deep, purplish wines, with characters of dark, wild hedgerow fruits, all smoky blackberry and cassis allied to more scented blueberry notes. It offers a more assertive structure than many southern French varieties and at altitude is capable of retaining a fine vein of acidity to offset its naturally generous weight. There is always a natural complexity to Monastrell…it never possesses the simplest set of characters to pin point. It can age incredibly well on account of the balance between intensity of fruit, tannin and acidity. Underrated and often overlooked, experience has taught me that it is variety worth seeking out.
I was interested to taste what is the third vintage of this small production Monastrell. In their first year just 15,000 bottles were made across the two wines produced, namely Alfynal and Moscya. There is no estate here, instead Prats and winemaker Stephane Point - who worked together in Portugal - took some space in a local winery, brought in the their own equipment and quickly got their Iberica project off the ground. We tasted the 2009 and 2010 vintages of Alfynal and were seriously impressed by the quality of both. As good as the 2009 was, the 2010 was a notch ahead, revealing a finer freshness and a juicier, more succulent accent. This is an impressive wine that demonstrates just how good this variety can be and highlights the exceptional value offered by less well-known viticultural areas of Spain. The refinement that comes from attention to detail is certainly on show in this humble Alicante red – no less than one would expect from experienced and knowledgeable winemakers.
Luis Guitterez, who reviews Spain for Robert Parker, tasted Alfynal back in late 2013 and wrote the following glowing endorsement.
2010 Alfynal, Iberica, Bruno Prats
£125 per 6 bottles in bond
94 points, Luis Guitterez on erobertparker.com
The 2010 Alfynal is pure Monastrell from very old vineyards, different plots ranging from 35 to 70 years of age located between 500 and 700 meters above sea level with very low yields. It has a beautiful nose of smoke, blackberries, star anise and well-integrated, fine-grained tannins, very supple. It has the balance and harmony of great wines. It improves with time in the glass; it has very good acidity, while the fruit is properly ripe. This is a very serious effort, elegant and rustic at the same time, which is a textbook example of great Monastrell. 9,700 bottles produced. Drink 2014-2022.