Toasty oak frames the sweet, ripe blackberry fruit in this modern red. Plush, with a supporting shell of tannins and enough acidity for balance. Drink now through 2010. 250 cases imported.??–TM??Region: Spain / Rioja Select to Add

It has taken this bodega a few years to get it right, but in 2004 this blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet is dark and rocking. The nose offers that modern but increasingly familiar blast of bacon, baked fruit pastry and leather, and the palate works its magic with black plum and smoked game flavors. If it were just a touch longer and richer toward the finish it might rank as a nuevo classico.——M.S.(9/1/2007)—— 91