2009 - Prado Enea Gran Reserva Muga, Rioja

(aged for 16 months in large French oak vats, followed by three years in 85 percent French and 15 percent American oak barrels and then held in bottle for three years before release) Brilliant ruby-red. Heady aromas of smoke-accented red berries, potpourri, incense and vanilla show superb clarity and pick up cedar and pipe tobacco nuances in the glass. Sweet, seamless and broad in the mouth, offering concentrated yet vibrant red currant, cherry liqueur and floral pastille flavors that fan out steadily on the back half. A spicecake quality emerges on the impressively persistent, red-fruit- and floral-driven finish, which is given shape by smooth, harmonious tannins.