The 2011 Finca El Bosque again comes from the same site and sees a similar upbringing. Its color is darker than other vintages, because of its youth, and it has an extremely primary nose that is still very ungiving. With time, you start feeling notes of Belgian chocolate, ripe blueberries, blackberries and damsons. The full-bodied palate is juicy with chunky tannins and perfectly integrated acidity that makes the wine coat your mouth without being aggressive. It doesn’t feel like a heavy wine at all, despite being a real bodybuilder underneath a silk robe. It’s so young it feels like eating fresh Tempranillo grapes. A great vintage for El Bosque that will require a good two to three years in bottle to start showing its true value and how power can be combined with elegance. 4,000 bottles produced. Drink 2016-2027.
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