Senorio de San Vicente
(Bodegas Sierra Cantabria) Rioja 2017
(Rioja, Spain) - [JD 96] [VM 93] [WE 92]

About the wine:

Founded by Guillermo Eguren, who is a self-made "bodeguero", coming from a family tradition of vine growers. Today, the fourth generation of the Eguren family, Marcos Eguren, is the winemaker and director of the winery. Sierra Cantabria has come to the forefront of Spanish wineries in the last 15 years. This is from the extreme care that they give to their vineyards, located in the best terrain of Rioja, the savoir-faire of Marcos Eguren, and his price-conscious policies.

First introduced in 1991, this wine is made by the ubiquitous Eguren family from vines that they own in Sonsierra. A low-yielding strain of the variety, Tempranillo Peluda, yields wines of distinct concentration and power that age effortlessly, as numerous, still youthful bottles from the 1990s continue to prove. The first planting of the estate’s 18-hectare vineyard was in 1985, still quite young by Rioja standards. The highly expressive, flamboyant wine is aged in large oak vats, 90% French and 10% American and many of them new, for 20 months before bottling.

The tradition in Rioja was blending vineyard and varieties, which lost the identity of single vineyards in the resulting wines. Marcos and Miguel Angel selected one of their finest and most unique vineyards, Finca La Canoca, to produce San Vicente. Located in a tiny valley at the foothills of the Sierra Cantabria, Finca La Canoca is 100% Tempranillo Peludo planted on extremely high-density trellises. The specific clone of Tempranillo, combined with the vineyard’s location produced a different expression that the Eguren family sought to highlight in this wine, that was built from the vineyard. The vineyard is located in a tiny valley on the northern fringes of what is considered to be an acceptable location for growing grapes in Rioja Alavesa. Any closer to the Sierra Cantabria mountain range, and the grapes would have trouble ripening. However, the altitude produces an elegant, lively wine with deep character and concentration.

Tasting Notes: Garnet red cherry in appearance. Delicate nose, good reduction and toasty creamy notes with rich licorice flavors and mountain herbs in this generous red, offering and elegant palate, fresh with well integrated tannins and a smooth finish.