Las Rocas Garnacha – Dynamic and Delicious

Garnacha was the first wine I wrote about at Cheap Wine Ratings and continues to be an easy choice for delicious and affordable wine.  And Las Rocas was one of the wines that I included in my early reviews, but I haven’t revisited it since then, until now.

This garnacha comes from a co-operative winery in the Catalayud region in Spain called Las Rocas, which translates to “the rocks.”  The name comes from the soil in the Catalayud regions, which is covered with rocks.  Like many great wine regions, it’s land that has poor nutrients and is difficult to farm, making it useless for most farming but great for wine grapes.  The stony soils are also known to capture heat from the sun, which also impacts the development of the grapes.

When it comes to easy, approachable and bargain-priced garnacha, Catalayud is one of my favorite regions.  And I’ve often seen Las Rocas garnacha in stores, so they seem to have good distribution.

Toasted oak, tobacco and cinnamon aromas lead the nose of this wine, followed by plum, blackberry and black cherry aromas.  The palate brings dusty blackberry, plum and black pepper flavors with fairly-heavy concentration.  The mouthfeel has a slightly-velvety texture.  The acidity is good.  The finish is fairly long and brings some chocolate notes.  Overall, this wine is dynamic and delicious.

Wine: Las Rocas, Garnacha
Varieties: Grenache
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 86
Average price: $12.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.

Find Las Rocas Garnacha with Snooth