There are not that many varietal Petit Verdot in Spain, and the one from Enrique Mendoza must have been one of the first. I tasted the 2013 Petit Verdot, one of the few wines they could produce and bottle in that damned vintage because of the long cycle of the variety. In fact the Bordeaux grape ripened nicely, producing a wine with a notable absence of herbal aromas nor jammy notes. There are notes of raspberries and strawberries and moderate impact from the oak aging (15 months in barriques). The palate is juicy and with velvety tannins, with contained ripeness, a much fresher wine than the ones the address produced in the early 2000s. In any case Pepe Mendoza is thinking about making more estate blends and less varietal wines in the future. 25,000 bottles were filled in July 2015.

With a bright purple color denoting youth, the 2012 Petit Verdot is from vines planted on lime and sand soils 12-15 years ago. The wine aged for ten months in new American oak barrels and a further five years in used French oak barriques before being bottled in June 2014 into 25,000 bottles. It's very balsamic with minty notes and tones of eucalyptus wafting over a core of oak-related aromas that make it difficult to reach the ripe fruit. The palate is quite intense, with marked balsamic flavors and earthy sensations plus notes of graphite, coal and roasted coffee saying more about the barrel than anything else. This is for fans of the style. Give it time and drink with powerful food.

The 2011 Petit Verdot is produced from a very unusual grape in the region. Hearing that it was aged for eight months in new American oak barrels and finished four months in used French barrels would made me think of a very oaky wine, but surprisingly, the oak is well-integrated, and the forefront is taken by black fruit and spices (black pepper) in a powerful wine with a strong personality, but that might lack the character of the grape. It’s clean, a little rustic, with plenty of fine grain tannins and piercing acidity. It made me salivate. It needs some red meat. Drink 2014-2019. Enrique Mendoza, a salesman in love with wine, started planting some vines in l’Alfas del Pi, very close to Benidorm, where his house and original business was located, in the 1960s. But it’s not until 1989 that his hobby was turned into a proper winery and Bodegas Enrique Mendoza were created. The Marina Baja area, close to the sea, is appropriate for growing Moscatel, but it’s not so good for red grapes, so he purchased a property inland, in the Vinalopo Valley, Finca Chaconero in Villena, where they have 80 hectares of vineyards. The focus was initially on French varieties (Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot and Shiraz), but in 2003 they started producing one of the best examples of Monastrell from the region, called Estrecho. Today Enrique’s sons, Pepe and Julian are at the helm of the company. They are so passionate about their vineyards (especially Pepe) and their wines that talking to them fills you with positive energy. The focus is clearly on viticulture, which to me is the right approach. They produce 350,000 bottles per year spread over a very wide range, which I find a little confusing, but I’m happy to see more and more attention being paid to Monastrell. I was especially impressed by (yet another) new wine called Las Quebradas. A few of their wines were reviewed last October in issue #203. Importer: Winebow Inc, Montvele, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620