Méo Rikken

9.0

Volle wijn, hitjes van fruit — 2 months ago

Yoly Sardinas

9.1

At casa Xabi — 8 months ago

Aaron Tan

8.9

I’ve been reading Nick Jackson’s Beyond Flavour leading up to my first blind tasting of the year. So armed with new knowledge about tasting through structure, I came out getting none of the blinds right. Haha! In my defense, it’s been a while since I’ve done this and some of the wines were perhaps showing less than ideal. Regardless, it was a productive exercise to focus in on structure instead of flavour.

This particular wine threw me a curve ball. On the nose, it’s smelled very ripe and sweet, with aromas of black fruits, new oak, liquorice, and spicy nuances. On the palate, the tannins immediately stood out as being different from the rest of the pack - moderate, chalky, focused on the front to mid-palate, where as the rest focused on the gums and cheeks. The acidity was very soft and the fruit was expectedly ripe. With sagely advice from Nick’s book, I was thrown in the direction of Shiraz, yet it wasn’t quite rich and fruity enough for the new world. Plus, shades of lifting volatile acidity keeps me hovering in the old world, but it’s definitely missing all the hallmarks of Syrah. Consider me stumped.

As with all blinds, the signs were obvious upon reveal - a Rioja Tempranillo from a warm year (I’ll let you join the dots). Notably, the tannin structure here was an outlier (Tempranillo tannins usually appear in the cheeks). Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the wine’s made out of Tempranillo Peludo? No matter, I honestly would have never identified it, just as I failed to identify the other Rioja’s in the blind - I’m just not familiar enough with the region or variety. Why you may ask? Well, a glass of the Raro, and I could take no more. Rioja’s just typically too rich for my blood. — 2 years ago

Erin Murphy

9.6

Super easy to drink, light, not complex juicy weekday wine  — 2 months ago

Martinez

9.2

One of the estate’s top single-vineyard wines, it is also made on great vintages. 100% Tempranillo from a plot planted in 1992, at an elevation of 850 meters (over 2,700 ft). Aged for 24 months in new oak. Full-bodied, ripe, concentrated, but still balanced. — a year ago

Andrew Holod

National Sales Grapes of Spain

8.9

A bit fleshier than previous vintages. The move to less new oak and less time in oak seems focus the wines here a bit, but the house style of nearly opulent dark fruit remains. — 3 years ago

Mario Martínez Colino

9.0

18€ en tienda — 2 months ago

Barny

8.9

Schlank, aber für 12,5 Alk ganz schön Ausdruck — a year ago

Sara Thomas

9.1

The bottle has aged beautifully, good provenance. Balsamic, green peppercorn, dried plum. Very nice — 3 years ago

Timothy

8.9

Ya cuesta abajo — 3 years ago