One of my favorite Mediterranean Moscatel is the one from Mendoza. This fortified 2011 Moscatel de Mendoza from old-vines on chalk and clay terraces, is bottled at 15% alcohol with 70 grams of sugar after ten months in new 500-liter French oak barrels. It's dense, extremely minty, aromatic and showy, unmistakably Moscatel, with aromas of honey, orange blossom and orange peel. The palate is sweet, but not cloying, again with intense balsamic flavors (pine tree, honey, lavender) and a very persistent and long finish. This is a bargain, even if the price is for a half-liter bottle. 5,000 bottles produced.

The 2009 Moscatel De Mendoza jumps out of the glass with a clear candied orange smell, it has the intensity of aromas and flavors characteristic of very low yields (1,500 kilos per hectare). It’s fortified and aged for 11 months in new oak barrels. It has the extra complexity of the aging in wood; minty, balsamic with a persistent note of bay leaf. It’s a superb aged Moscatel at a great price. Drink 2013-2015. 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