Pago de Larrainzar 2004

Variety: 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 20% Tempranillo

Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Navarra
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 14.5%
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: 5.0g/l
Color: medium red with ruby meniscus
Bouquet: very intense, forest fruites, black currant, blackberries, chocolate
Taste medium to full body, concentrated ripe berry fruits, black cherries, black currant, mulberries, vanilla, complex, soft and round tannins, black pepper, medium to long finish
Recommended food pairing: T-bone steak
Overall score: 87
Price: CZK 1750 (in restaurant) on web EUR 25
Stoper: cork
Vinification
After collecting by hand the best grapes from the vineyard and from the selection table, fermentation of the different varieties was carried out over 7 days in separate tanks. Subsequently, the maceration lasted 20 days for the Merlot, 15 days for the Cabernet and 14 days for the Tempranillo. The malolactic fermentation took 17 days for the Merlot, 10 days for the Cabernet and 8 days for the Tempranillo. The wine was transferred to oak barrels in January 2005.
The wine aged in French oak barrels, new (72%) and used once (28%), of two different capacities: 225 L (78%) and 300 L (22%). The barrels were decanted using the traditional barrel to barrel method until the completion of a 12 month aging process. Starting with 25 different wines from a single harvest, the resulting final blend was bottled in February 2006.
This was very very nice example of Spanish wine, it was very concentrated, rather Bordeaux style than Rioja with very nice tannins, excellent fruit and chocolate nad vanilla integration.