Rioja

Sierra Cantabria Coleccion Privada 2005

All this talk of modern V’s traditional Rioja seems logical until you come across a wine like this. The Coleccion Privada is what the Egurens call a Collection wine, that is a wine that shows character and tradition but with modern methods and oak treatment. The result is something that blurs the line between traditional and modern, however I’d have to question the oak treatment a bit here.

A quick google search tells me that the CP is made from two vineyards of 50 year old vines, barrell fermented in a mix of French and American oak and then left to age in the barrel for 18 months.

Very dark in the glass, with royal purple towards the rim. A concentrated nose of dark fruits and wood at this stage: blackberry, dark cherry with espresso, a year’s worth of pencil shavings, sarsparilla and cinamon. Very nice fruit tannins in the mouth, bigish and soft, that lend a bit of ommph and keep up with the acid. Although this is a very young wine, its fairly approachable now. The palate shows juicy black fruits with some mocha, pepper and hot cinamon. The finish is very long. A wine to be banished to the cellar for at least 5 years, preferably 7-10. But it looks like it will live for a very long time. 93 Pts.

Source: Toro/Woods Wines Price: $125 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.eguren.com