The 2004 Vall Llach is the flagship wine of the estate. Produced from estate old-vine fruit consisting of 65% Carinena, 20% Merlot, and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine was aged for 16 months in new French oak. Purple-colored, the nose offers scents of pain grille, fresh herbs, mineral, spice box, and blackberry liqueur. On the palate the wine is backward and unyielding. Full-bodied (15.5% alcohol), and packed, there is plenty of ripe tannins and excellent balance but purchasers of this wine will require patience. The 2004 Vall Llach will need a minimum of a decade of cellaring to blossom. It should easily last for several decades but will it ever be fun to drink? If I were young and a gambler, I’d lay away a handful of bottles and roll the dice later in life.Importer: Folio Fine Wine Partners, Napa, CA; tel. (707) 256-2731