Wine & Spirits

“17 by Pinea”, honors the year 2017, an important year in the life of the Pinea winery when they celebrated the commercial debut of our flagship PINEA. The ‘mountain’ character of their Estate's fruit derives from privileged location (approx. 3,000+ ft. above sea level) where vines 30, 40 and 70+ years of age overcome daunting weather conditions, from snowy winters to sizzling hot summers, with common 40-degree diurnal-nocturnal temperature fluctuations. The lifted, complex aromatics of “17” are the result of passionate viticulture following sustainable and organic practices. Then careful grape selection (hand-harvested) and a non-interventionist approach to vinification allows the fruit to be the star. After patient aging for 20 months in French oak barrels, Pinea's privileged Terroir and attention to detail followed in every step of the wine-making process, result in one of the very best expressions of the Tempranillo varietal

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Winemaker Notes Soft and bright pink with salmon and onion skin hints. Intense aroma of red fruits (strawberries, raspberries, currants), some citrus sign (orange peel) and fine minerality. Very fresh and balanced on the palate, very good acidity, greasy and with dimension. Alive ending with great balance of flavors, fruitiness and warmth.

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Winemaker Notes On the nose, echoes of healthy and mature red fruit in after a perfect maturation. Floral and balsamic notes add freshness, all together in harmony with subtle toasted notes from its time in barrel. In the mouth, fine and subtle with nice tannins and perfect acidity that make it a persistent wine with a long finish. Critical Acclaim James Suckling Black cherries with cedar and dried flowers, as well as dusty earth. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm tannins that are long and polished. Lots of structure. Very typical and focused. Drinkable now, but better in 2024. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate I tasted two vintages of the estate red that represents the blend and the character of the place. The 2018 Reserva comes from a cooler year and is a blend of 86% Tempranillo, 6% Mazuelo, 6% Graciano and 2% Garnacha with 14.12% alcohol and a pH of 3.48. The grapes ripened thoroughly and the wine is tasty but has a vibrant palate with freshness and depth. It has a classical nose and is complex and spicy with an earthy touch, a little developed and with fine-grained tannins. Very tasty. It spent 18 months in oak barrels, 90% of them French and 10% American; they are reducing the amount of American oak in this wine.

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Winemaker Notes Deep purple color. Shows fresh and balsamic first notes, with aromas of lavender, basil, freshly-cut grass. Then it turns into a spicy and smoky character, with white pepper, clove and cinnamon. The palate is compact and clean, with notes of red apple, wild strawberry, blood orange, and licorice. Firm, fine-grained tannins keep this wine tightly wound, leading to the great aging potential. Barbaresco is a great food wine. Traditionally served with roasted braised meat such as beef, pork and boar, Barbaresco is actually very versatile: owing to its high acidity and red fruit profile. It pairs well with roasted chicken, veal, game birds and even seafood. Heartier pasta and risotto dishes are other obvious pairings, as are aged Italian cheeses. Critical Acclaim James Suckling Aromas of asphalt and tar that turn to dried strawberries, plums and citrus fruit. Full body, yet agile and very refined with a beautiful balance of fruit, tannins and acidity. Extremely persistent and focused finish. All about harmony and strength. Drink in 2022.

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Winemaker Notes The wine is clear and bright with a medium ruby color and presence of legs. The nose is clean and developing, showing medium intensity aromas of cedar, vanilla, chocolate, dark plums, dark cherries, licorice and anise. The wine is dry in the mouth with a medium acidity. It has medium supple tannins and a high alcohol. It has a medium body and flavors of cedar, vanilla, dark plums, dark cherries and licorice. The finish is long. Critical Acclaim James Suckling Aromas of perfumes and violets with blueberries follow through to a medium body with very fine tannins that run the length of the wine and show muscle and length. Linear and toned. Give this time to open and show you more. Try after 2026. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate There is around 20% new oak in the 2020 Flor de Pingus, and because it has a little younger vines (there was a land-consolidation project in La Horra in 2006!), there'll be some Garnacha starting in 2021 and maybe some oak vats for aging too. All this shows the direction, where he found structure and volume in the palate, with textured tannins. It's harmonious and elegant, aromatic and floral, perfumed and showy, with contained ripeness and around 14% alcohol. The palate is quite powerful, with abundant but fine tannins.Rating: 94+

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The wine is deep garnet in colour with bluish hints at the rim.On the nose, interesting aromas of wild berries and liquorice merge beautifully with notes of toffee, tobacco leaf and undergrowth from barrel ageing. The palate reveals a wine characterised by its elegance, depth of flavour and fine, velvety tannins. The finish is long and complex. This beautifully balanced wine is perfect for pairing with fish, all types of meat and cured cheeses.

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Region: Rioja Alavesa Grape Variety: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo ABV: 13.5% Stopper: Cork Full bodied red wine. Intense red with purple reflections in colour, on the nose, aromas of plum and cassis with notes of spices. Medium tannins. Well-balanced in acidity. Savory and classic red wine in style. On the palate, dry, oaky, rich, intense, bold, structured, spicy, jammy, soft, silky, smokey, fruit-driven, lengthy, hint of tobacco, touch of dark chocolate, delivers red fruits character. It has a long finish. --Morteza Afshar

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97 points James Suckling  This is very ripe with blackberries, dried fruit, toasted oak and black licorice on the nose. Full-bodied with ultra-fine, linear tannins and a racy, refined finish. This has fantastic structure and length. It goes on for minutes. It needs time to open and refine even more. One of the best Imperiale Gran Reservas in a very long time.  (9/2021) 95 points John Gilman  The 2015 Imperial Gran Reserva is crafted from a constellation of eighty-five percent Tempranillo, ten percent Graciano and five percent Mazuelo this year. Like the Contino Gran Reserva, this wine tips the scales at fourteen percent alcohol in 2015 and offers up a pure, nascently complex and sappy nose of black raspberries, black cherries, Cuban cigar wrapper, a lovely base of soil tones, toasted coconut, a touch of cedar, fresh nutmeg and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, refined, deep and full, with a great core of fruit, impeccable focus and balance, ripe, firm tannins and a long, tangy and nascently complex finish. This is going to be an absolutely superb vintage of Imperial Gran Reserva, but it is even younger than the Viña Real Gran Reserva out of the blocks and will need a bit more cellaring to soften up. In due course, it is going to be a stunning wine! (Drink between 2031-2080)  (6/2021)

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Dark red in color. Long legs in rhe glass. Nose of leather, tobacco and cedar. In the palate notes of oak, vanilla, and black fruit. Medium body, high tannins, medium acidity with a long and round finish. Had this at the Beach House of very speacial friends and family, paired with an assorted BBQ medley of chorizos, picanhas and new york steaks. --Carlos E Duque Chevalier

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Winemaker Notes Ruby red in color, the wine shows a youthful hint at the rim. The nose reveals interesting and complex aromas of ripe fruits in perfect balance with spices, toffee, roasted coffee and balsamic notes. The palate is soft with silky tannins, good, fresh acidity and a long finish with a balsamic aftertaste. In terms of matching, this wine is a perfect companion for any dish of the Mediterranean cuisine. Blend: 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo Critical Acclaim JS95 James Suckling I like the medium-velvety tannins with firmness, brightness and freshness. Full-bodied, racy and energetic. Elegance with structure. 85% tempranillo, 10% graciano and 5% mazuelo. Needs four to five years in the bottle, but already impressive to taste. D93 Decanter Plush, polished, rich and plump with a ripe redcurrant, vanilla and clove nose, layers of red berry fruits and form-giving tannins. Rather lovely!

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98 points Wine Enthusiast  Lightly baked and hinting at raisin and fine herbs, the bouquet on this benchmark Spanish red enfolds aromas of tobacco, moss and ripe tomato. In the mouth, it's elegant and silky but also full and expansive. Flavors of baked berry fruits, baking spices, herbs and cocoa finish with a light coating of toast. This is an amazingly complete, exemplary wine that's just entering its prime. *Editors' Choice* (MS)    97 points Decanter  Recommended by Jasper Morris MW for a tasting we held together, this just jumped out of the glass. I am giving a drinking date from now, as it is getting on towards 17 years old, but it is still extremely young and has decades ahead of it, with bright black cherry and brambled autumnal fruits in the foreground, with tertiary leather and cigar just beginning to spiral upwards. Voluptuous, powerful, layered, complex, with all the subtle toast, tar, chocolate shavings and smoke hints that you would expect from a wine with such a slow and subtle ageing process (in this case 15 months in 20,000-litre vats, 25 month in new barrels, 17 months in older barrels and a further 26 months in large-sized oak vats). I love it when a legendary wine lives up to the hype, and this more than did so. (JA) 

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