91Points

“Ivan and Mario Santos come from a family that has been farming vines and making wine for four generations. They established Aldonia in 2006 to focus on garnacha; this wine is 100 percent garnacha from centenarian vines at an altitude of 2,780 feet. At first, the wine's reduction makes it a little blunt and unsettled, the aroma bouncing from cracked black peppercorn to a scent not far from an onion bagel. That reduction blows off as the wine opens to cool, spicy strawberry flavors, notes of black mushroom and a little piquillo-pepper spice. It's racy and refined, needing a few years of age to show its best.”