| 2008-09-09 10:20 |
IWC:
By Josh Raynolds
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, July/August 2008, Issue #139
(J.C. Conde Delgado y Otros Neo Punta Esencia Ribera del Duero) ($92; 100% tempranillo; 200% new oak) Deep ruby. Smoky dark berries and cherry liqueur on the nose, with complicating notes of Asian spices, cola and cured meat. Luscious dark berry flavors are impressively lithe and precise, betraying no excess weight or overt oakiness. Silky tannins add gentle grip to the impressively long, exuberant finish, which leaves behind hints of cola, cracked pepper and mocha. 94 points |
| 2008-09-09 10:21 |
WA: The 2005 Neo Punta Esencia was sourced from low-yielding 80-year-old vines aged for 12 months in new French and American oak followed by racking into 100% new French oak for another 6 months, what has been called the “200 percent new oak treatment”. Purple/black in color, the wine reveals a brooding nose of toasty oak, vanilla, mineral, scorched earth, espresso, blueberry, blackberry liqueur, and licorice. Full-bodied, large-scaled and powerful, the wine is still tightly wound but has all the components needed for greatness. Give it 8-10 years in the cellar to come out of its shell and you will then be able to drink this very lengthy behemoth through 2040.
Importer: Aurelio Cabestrero, Grapes of Spain, Lorton, VA; tel. (571) 642-0343 |