2001 Monasterio Reserva Especial

(78% tempranillo and 22% cabernet sauvignon; aged for 20 months in French oak barrels): Dark red. Heady red fruit, tobacco and floral aromas, along with notes of leather and spicecake that build in the glass. Sweet and expansive on the palate, with smoky redcurrant and bitter cherry flavors turning sweeter with aeration. Supple, seamless and fully mature, showing no obvious tannins on the long smoke- and spice-accented finish.