Tasting Notes

91
Vinous Stephen Tanzer - 01 Sep 98
Darkest ruby color. Spicy black raspberry, violet, licorice and toast aromas lifted by a chalky minerality. Fleshy entry, then very tight and backward, with powerful acids. A distinctly tougher style of wine, wrapped up in its own structure today. This will need several years of bottle aging to express itself. There will also be later-bottled special cuvees of 100% tempranillo and 100% cabernet from the '96 vintage, to be released next spring; barrel samples of these extremely impressive wines merited scores in the 93-95 range.
Drinking Date:
Spain Vineyard Fine Wine

Spain

Spain, a leading wine producer, offers diverse wines from its varied regions. In Rioja, Tempranillo produces elegant, age-worthy reds, with top producers like Bodegas Marqués de Riscal and Bodegas Muga. Ribera del Duero also excels with Tempranillo, featuring esteemed estates like Vega Sicilia and Dominio de Pingus. Priorat is known for bold red blends from Garnacha and Cariñena, with top wineries like Alvaro Palacios. In Galicia, Albariño shines in Rías Baixas, while Penedès is famed for Cava from houses like Freixenet.