For our second winery visit we went to Casas del Bosque. A moderate-sized winery (currently about 75K cases), they are working to get bigger, as well as become a bit of a destination. All the signs were there - immaculately manicured grounds, a large and trendy restaurant, a barrel aging cathedral and glass-walled tasting temple. We had a lovely tour of all the expected elements, though our guide was rather thrown by the fact that we were already familiar with the process. She didn't have much beyond her script. Still it was very pleasant, and the tasting was a private affair in the tasting temple.
As for the wines, well let's just say that they are trying really hard! Unfortunately this means that when they give 110% it is with oak barrels. We tried 6 wines (five of which are in the photo below), and the oak influence was prominent in all of them.The Sauvignon Blanc was sadly undrinkable, as it melded the heavy oak with bright green pepper elements. The best word I could think of was "nasty" (no I did not say it out loud). The Chardonnay showed some lemon and apple elements, but they were squashed by the excessive wood. On to the reds, and once again the Syrah was the best of the lot (as at Kingston), but in this case it was because it was the only one where any varietal character was discernable. Their Bordeaux blend, Gran Bosque, aged in 200% (!) new oak was just a coconut and coffee travesty. The green and white pepper elements (see my Kingston Family report) were again prominent in the reds.
A tough visit. It was hard to end up disliking every wine poured. The accompanying cheese were good, but that's not why we were there.
It did get better later...