2012 Coleccion Privada

The 2012 Rioja Coleccion Privada is pure Tempranillo from two vineyards in the village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Jarrarte and Valgrande, planted in 1957 and 1959 respectively. It was fermented with yeasts they have selected from their own vineyards (they looked for non-Saccharomyces yeasts that are different in each location). The two vineyards are fermented separately, Jarrarte with a traditional maceration and aged in French barrels and Valgrande with carbonic maceration American oak aging. All the barrels are new, and the wine matured in them for 16 months. In the ultra-dry 2012 vintage they got very low yields and Marcos Eguren thinks this is a vintage similar to 1990 in San Vicente. The wines are blended after the third racking, approximately one year after being put in barrel. It has a very ripe nose with notes of decayed violets, strawberries, prunes and dark cherries (without getting to the raisins; they harvest a bit earlier than in the initial vintages), complimented by a creamy layer from the oak with spices, cola nut and nutmeg. The palate is lush, round, and juicy with abundant tannins and moderate acidity that leads to an ending that is slightly warm and dry. It needs time in bottle. 11,500 bottles produced.

(100% old-vines tempranillo; aged for 18 months in a 50/50 mix of new French and American oak): Bright violet color. Explosive black raspberry, cherry and vanilla qualities on the seductively perfumed nose. Fleshy and expansive, offering plush red and dark berry liqueur flavors and a suave note of candied rose. Picks up spiciness and smokiness with air and finishes on a sweet dark berry note, with excellent thrust and floral persistence.