4 Monos Albillo

Another wine whose label is deceptive. Four cute monkeys that appear unaware of what they have in their possession. Don’t be fooled; behind this apparently light-hearted label lies hidden a great wine, a wine that will give you pleasure when soaking up its aromas and savouring it, as an accompaniment to tasty dishes but also, and particularly, on its own.

This white Cuatro Monos is the colour of very clean and shiny new gold. It has been aged on its lees in oak barrels for 10 months, but these were used barrels and clearly the oak has helped to round off the wine without masking the fruit at all, for which we must be grateful. This Albillo has delightful aromas, very mature aromas of stone fruits, notes of fallen leaves, slight aniseed touches and hints of quince, camomile flowers, biscuits, and oven-baked apples; a sensation of maturity is always present but accompanied by a very special freshness.

It is dry on the palate and oily too, with an excellent entry that is intense, with volume, fruit-forward and creamy, and has an enviable structure; it is generous, glyceric, elegant, powerful, a really remarkable wine, complex and complete, a genuine wine, with some saline touches on the finish, and apple peel, lactic and creamy notes, with a smooth honey background. Extremely long. Exceptionally tasty.

A piece of advice: open a bottle now and keep another pair to drink in a couple of months’ time; this wine evolves beautifully in the bottle, gaining in complexity and finesse. Those four monkeys know perfectly well what they are hiding inside each bottle.