Today's featured wine:Domaine Roger Perrin Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2004

Bodegas Castaño Hécula 2004 Monastrel

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2004

Avg. Rating: 85.0/100 (7 Reviews)
Winery: Bodegas Castaño
Vintage: 2004
Varietal: Monastrell
Country: Spain
Region: Spain
Retail Price: $$ 16.00 USD
Created by: Ramanan Sivaranjan
Purchase: Buy this wine ›
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Tasting Notes from Cork’d Members

Bodegas Castaño Hécula 2004 Monastrel
(about 1 year ago) buddy icon nbrown 86/100
Good, but a bit flat. You keep waiting for something more after a sip. Nothing bad about it though.

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Bodegas Castaño Hécula 2004 Monastrel
(about 1 year ago) buddy icon suchire 87/100
Nice and sweet, but slightly bitter on the end. Tasty, but lacking a certain depth.

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Bodegas Castaño Hécula 2004 Monastrel
(about 1 year ago) buddy icon phaedrus29 88/100
Nice garnet color. Jammy and herbaceous on the nose. Dark fruity and jammy flavors, with nice firm tannins that make this wine quite dry in the mid to late palate. Enjoyable, and a lot of wine for the money.

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Bodegas Castaño Hécula 2004 Monastrel
(about 1 year ago) buddy icon jstrutt 85/100
A nice wine with a good balance of fruit and earthy characteristics. It has some good flavor development and a nice finish. Medium to light body.

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Bodegas Castaño Hécula 2004 Monastrel
(about 1 year ago) buddy icon cliffordjames 70/100
OK, we admit that Monastrell is not our favorite variety of red wine; even when it is part of a blend we tend to shy away. Still, I bought this wine as part of my last case because Gary Vaynerchuk said it was good, and sometimes that’s good enough for us to give a new wine a try. Plus I always try to add something into a case that will stretch our wine boundaries. I found it interesting to note that it has recently been found that Monastrell is no longer believed to be the same as the French Mourvèdre grape. I quote from Wikipedia, December 17, 2007: “Monastrell was believed to be a Spanish synonym for Mourvèdre, but DNA fingerprinting has shown that Monastrell is in fact the Graciano of Rioja. Considerable confusion has resulted.” . . . . . . . . . ON THE NOSE: Yeah, this is a Monatsrell, with a typical sour cherry nose and a pungent chemical overtone. This one has some nice vanilla and a slight cream aroma, sort of like a Pinot Noir, but besides these pleasantries the nose is not very enjoyable to us; ick! I’m so happy that Darcey agrees with me on this wine variety! . . . . . . . . . ON THE PALATE: Although this Monastrell does get better with time, it ultimately lets us down, and Darcey even gets a bit annoyed that I would try yet another Monastrell after us not liking any we have tried in the past. It is too sour, basically, for our tastes, and this one cannot escape that “cheap” wine flavor profile. For us this is a major pass, and on this our tastes do indeed diverge from Gary Vaynerchuk. Simply not pleasant, not complex, and not worth the money, in our opinion. To be fair this variety is simply not our cup of tea! EVEN STILL, either this bottle was spoiled a little (I don't think it was, though) or else it is simply not a very good wine; we think the latter. Maybe it's just us!

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Bodegas Castaño Hécula 2004 Monastrel
(about 1 year ago) buddy icon bostonben 89/100

Hold on to your pants: Jay Miller at The Wine Advocate rated this vintage 91 points! It was listed for $10.99, and marked down at my local retailer to $6.99. I also notice that the '04 Hecula rings in at #29 on Wine.com's Top 100 customer preferred wines for 2007.

The bad news is that this is just not a 91 point wine, and only bribery, patronage, or non-prescription drugs can possibly explain the rating. The good news is that, with some air, this definitely rocks the house for laying down a tenner. The nose is pleasant but nothing extraordinary - it's strongest on the palate, with a decent finish. Straight out of the bottle this is very tart - more than you'd expect from the Merlot of Spain - but it handles a long decanting very well and smooths out. Nothing to knock your socks off, but great execution, and without question my favorite affordable Monastrell to date.

89 points with a rrrolling r.

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Bodegas Castaño Hécula 2004 Monastrel
(about 1 year ago) buddy icon harlykwin714 90/100
fruit fruit fruit. yes there is chocolate and fruit behind. overall this was quite enjoyable for the price. lovely with cheese and bread.

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