2014 - Mauro, Terreus Paraje de Cueva Baja

Inky ruby. Expansive aromas of ripe blackberry, cherry cola, boysenberry and smoky minerals are complicated by potpourri and allspice flourishes. Lush, intensely flavored and impressively concentrated, offering deep black and blue fruit, mocha and floral pastille flavors and a suave spicecake nuance. Finishes smooth, sweet and extremely long, with resonating spiciness, lingering florality and slowly building tannins.

There is no 2013, so we jumped to the single-vineyard red 2014 Terreus Pago de Cueva Baja. It is pure Tempranillo from a mixture of old and younger vines in the village of Tudela de Duero. 2014 is a very hedonistic, complete and elegant vintage of Terreus, bottled in September 2016 after some 20 months in barrel. It's balanced and powerful, with sweet spices and a lactic touch. I think it has the ingredients and balance to age nicely in bottle and in a way it reminded me of the 1996. It has sweet tannins and a very pleasant mouthfeel, terribly balanced with the freshness of red fruit rather than black. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled a little earlier than in previous vintages and they also used less new oak, which to me translated into greater precision in the wine.