Vinos Sin-Ley Monastrell No. 1

Dark purple. Spicy raspberry on the nose, with a deeper chocolate quality adding a touch of seriousness. Structured dark fruit flavors are a tad dry but gain sweetness on the finish, which features an exotic floral quality. A bit wound-up today.

The 2006 M1 from Valencia is dark ruby-colored. It has an expressive nose of blue fruits and violets leading to a supple-textured wine with no hard edges. It is a user-friendly wine for near-term drinking.

M-1 is a project wine from importer Patrick Mata that features 100% Monastrell (Spanish for Mourvedre) grown in high-altitude vineyards in Valencia, in southeast Spain, and fermented and aged only in stainless steel. This pure expression of the fruit is long on concentrated cherry flavor without being candied, enveloping or sweet on the palate. It has the slightly earthy, even gamey, elements that belong in Monastrell, and a peppery finish. This is an extremely interesting and satisfying effort.