Locations Wine E4 Spanish Red | Winemaker Dave Phinney does it again
Locations Wine E4 Spanish Red is purple-black in color. Locations Wine by Dave Phinney has explosive aromas of dark berry flavors, sweet tobacco, and black currants. Full-bodied, broad, and deeply concentrated black raspberry fruit and dark cherry preserves mingle with sleek minerality, tinged with mocha and sweet baking spice. Silky tannins and bright, mouthwatering acidity give way to a long finish hinting at clove, vanilla, and cedar spice.
The Locations Wine E4 Spanish Red presents a dark, polished amethyst with aromatic notes of white pepper, tobacco, and black currant emerging from the glass. A silky mouthfeel with a palate of dark plums, black raspberry, and hints of French vanilla closes with subtle tart black cherry and a lengthy, structural finish.
Locations Wine by Dave Phinney has an alluring cast of blooming crimson and deep red shades are immediately present in the glass. Complimenting the appearance is an impressive intensity on the nose with elevated dark cherry and exotic spice notes. The entry is rich with youthful berry compote, floral, and plum flavors, complemented with bright acidity. The finish is expansive and pleasing with a persistent mocha tinge and silky tannins.
RP 93 | Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
If you judge wines on how they taste and the degree of pleasure they offer, they are all incredible efforts. The three new cuvees I tasted are among the finest wine values one could hope to find. Moreover, there are 50,000 cases of each, no easy feat given the grapes Phinney has accessed and the quality he has turned out. As of now, Dave Phinney might be my “value winemaker of the year” candidate. P.S. It’s too expensive for this report, but I am including it as an homage to what Dave Phinney has achieved. If there are better wines for under $20 a bottle in the world today, please share that information with The Wine Advocate.
“Dave Phinney – is one of the more creative young minds in all of the world’s winedom. He is doing things that are far beyond his modest age and deserves to be commended for the brilliant individuality/singularity of all of his efforts.”
Locations Wine by Dave Phinney
When winemaker Dave Phinney, the acclaimed creator of “The Prisoner,” applied his mastery to the “Locations” project, the world’s most influential wine critic swooned. Robert Parker called Phinney “my ‘value winemaker of the year’ candidate,” and challenged his readers to find “better wines for under $20 a bottle in the world today.” For this “Locations E4,” Phinney combed the Spanish countryside to craft a powerhouse, dark-fruited red from some of the Iberian Peninsula’s oldest vines. Fashioned with the very same opulence Phinney brought to “The Prisoner,” this singular Spanish red is packed with dark berry flavors, sleek minerality, mocha, and sweet baking spice upheld by silky and plush tannins and bright acidity.
Explore today’s finds at Wine Access
The “Vibrant Culture, Delicious Wines” of Spain stole the spotlight on the June cover of Wine Spectator issue, and the lead story dives deeper into the country’s “exciting reds.” “Spain doesn’t shortchange wine lovers looking for great wines and terrific values,” Spectator asserts, and there is perhaps no better support for this claim than today’s wine — the “Locations E4” by “The Prisoner” mastermind Dave Phinney.
Wine Spectator has placed Phinney’s wines on its annual Top 100 list seven times in the last 11 years. Robert Parker has lavished even more praise on Phinney and especially his iconoclastic Locations line:
Value Winemaker of the Year Candidate
“Terroirists will claim the devil has possessed Phinney, as his offerings from France, Italy, and Spain are all blends from different sectors of each country. If you judge wines on how they taste and the degree of pleasure they offer, they are all incredible efforts. … As of now, Dave Phinney might be my ‘value winemaker of the year’ candidate. … If there are better wines for under $20 a bottle in the world today, please share that information with The Wine Advocate… Kudos to Dave Phinney!”
The “E” in “Locations E4” stands for “España,” Spain. To source this singular expression of a blockbuster Spanish red, Phinney combed the fabled regions of Rioja, Toro, and Ribera del Duero, along with coastal Priorat and Jumilla, and locked into tiny BB-sized Garnacha (Grenache), Tempranillo, Monastrell, and Cariñena (Carignan) off some of the country’s oldest vines.