Monastrell Mira Salinas 2022, Bodegas Sierra Salinas

Bodegas Sierra Salinas’ 2022 Mira Salinas is a powerful yet balanced expression of 100% Monastrell from dry-farmed, organically cultivated vineyards high above Villena in D.O. Alicante. Mature head-trained vines grow in extremely shallow, rocky limestone soils at elevations reaching 680 meters, concentrating the fruit while cool nights preserve freshness. Aged for 12 months in French oak barrels of varying ages, the wine layers black raspberry, cassis, dark cherry, and black plum with crushed violet, white pepper, graphite, dark chocolate, and smoky spice. Full-bodied and firmly structured, it is an excellent match for lamb, smoky pork, braised beef, chorizo, mushrooms, or aged Manchego. Wine Enthusiast awarded it 92 points and named it a Best Buy.

About the Winery

Bodegas Sierra Salinas was founded in 2000 by the Castaño family of neighboring Yecla, who saw unusual potential in the high-elevation terrain surrounding Villena. The winery takes its name from the nearby Sierra de Salinas, a rugged mountain range rising above this dry corner of inland Alicante. Its modern facility, completed in 2006, was built on three levels so that grapes and wine could move through the cellar primarily by gravity.

In 2013, the Miñano and Gómez families acquired the estate and brought it into MGWines Group. Their attention shifted decisively toward the vineyard: maintaining dry farming, adopting organic practices, moderating extraction, and reducing the influence of new oak. The wider property covers 92 hectares, with more than 50 hectares devoted to vines and the remainder shared by almond trees, olive groves, and the surrounding Mediterranean landscape.

Monastrell is the estate’s center of gravity. It occupies most of the vineyard land, much of it in mature, head-trained parcels rooted in shallow limestone. The combination of altitude, poor soil, and dramatic day-to-night temperature changes gives the winery an opportunity to make Monastrell with both its expected power and a less expected measure of freshness.

Winemaker José Ramón Gago takes advantage of the gravity-flow cellar, open-top fermentation vessels, gentle pumpovers, and a cool underground barrel room to avoid forcing the wines into shape. If Monastrell has occasionally arrived at the table flexing, Sierra Salinas is teaching it some manners without taking away the muscle.