2014 El Sacramento
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Tasting notes
Tempranillo with 4% Graciano at 530m in Rioja Alavesa just south of Laguardia. Old vines in a single 20-ha vineyard cultivated organically. 17 months in French oak. Healthy grapes were harvested on 26/27 September and October. Jesus Madrazo ex Contino has a hand in this enterprise. Very appetising and pure. Beautifully balanced with that tobacco leaf sensation and great clean purity on the finish. Long and precise. Very impressive. (JR)
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Jancis Robinson MW
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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The more recent 2014 El Sacramento is a blend similar to the 2011; it's Tempranillo with 4% Graciano from the Sacramento vineyard panted in Laguardia in 1986. The destemmed grapes fermented in stainless steel, and the wine went through malolactic and 17 months of aging in new and second use French barriques. This 2014 was also produced in stainless steel, but in the new winery all the wines will be fermented in concrete. This shows more ripeness than 2013, with more body and a creamy oak note. 2014 was not an easy year, somehow heterogeneous. There are notes of cured meat intermixed with balsamic aromas and hints of camphor. The flavors are pungent and persistent, with a dusty texture and good acidity. With time in the glass, it turns meatier/smokier with something Rhône-ish to it. 19,000 bottles were filled in March 2016.