El Chaparral 2005 Grenache

had to sneak a red in amongst all the white that has been reviewed lately. i love a good 100% grenache. many wineries use it as a blending grape, especially in that holy trinity of blends with syrah and mourvedre. this 100% grenache from spain was made from old vines that are at least 60 years old. the nose was not as big as some of the others i have had. there were hints of licorice and earth. but it never really opened up, despite the fact that i had opened the bottle a day earlier. black fruit taste and overpowering tannins that really take the taste right out of the old buds. had a strong finish of blackberry, but the tannins kind of killed that. maybe a longer time in the bottle? paid about $13 for this so maybe another bottle laid for a while would be worth looking into. it just isn't ready to drink right now.