The 2009 Coleccion Privada is pure Tempranillo from two separate vineyards with a high active-chalk component, planted in 1957 and 1959 in San Vicente de la Sonsierra. For this wine they want to follow the traditional way, so 50% of the wine is obtained through carbonic maceration and the rest with destemmed grapes. Malolactic fermentation is carried out in new barrels, 50% French and 50% American where the wine ages for 18 months. It has a dark ruby color and a nose of red fruits, balsamic aromas with a lactic touch. It’s a powerful wine from a warm(ish) vintage so they needed more time in barrel to round the tannins, which are still grainy, but balanced by very good acidity. It opens up spectacularly in the glass, and tasted side by side with the 2010 and 2011 you see how the wine gets more elegant with time in bottle. Drink now-2019. I tasted through the portfolio of three wineries belonging to the Eguren family and realized they were constantly mentioning that the wines were fermented with “yeast coming from their own vineyard,” so I queried winemaker Marcos Eguren what that really meant. It turns out that they have been carrying out an extensive study of the natural yeasts in their vineyards and found that 99% of the existing yeasts were non-saccharomyces. They have isolated two or three of this non-saccharomyces yeasts and a saccharomyces from their own vineyards which are subsequently used for the fermentation of their wines. These yeasts are kept at -80o C at the Navarra University, which is part of this research to avoid changes and mutations from happening. The study has not yet concluded. These are the wines from the Sierra Cantabria winery in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, which were extremely impressive and pure. Imported by Fine Estates from Spain, Dedham, MA; tel. (781) 461-5767