The 2016 Reserva is 100% Tempranillo sourced from San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Labastida, Rioja. Aged for 18 months in equal parts American and French oak barrels, this garnet wine unfolds balsamic, mint and bold garrigue-like aromas, accompanied by licorice and briar notes and a sour cherry core. Dry, chalky and juicy on the palate, the delicate and flavorful flow lingers long with a savory finish. Complex and nuanced, the 2016 captures the essence of Sonsierra Tempranillo.

This deep-garnet wine has a bouquet of black currant, raspberry, and cocoa powder, with a hint of anisette. Opulent tannins and a well-integrated acidity ply the palate, bringing dark-plum, mocha, anisette and violet flavors that endure in the mouth.

The 2016 Reserva shows ripeness and jammy fruit with plenty of spice and a powerful, full-bodied palate. It has 14.4% alcohol and a pH of 3.66. They used a little new oak here, 20%, with used 50/50 French and American oak barrels for the aging of 18 months. This was a superb vintage, with quality and quantity, a cooler year with more freshness, and the wines seem to be evolving at a slower pace. It's harmonious and clean, classical and expressive, spicy, with a polished palate and resolved tannins. It is fine-boned, more elegant and has a very good balance-a textbook traditional Reserva from a very good year. 30,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2020.

The current vintage, the 2016 Sierra Cantabria Reserva is all Tempranillo that comes from a mix of estate vineyards. It spends 18 months in half Bordelaise and half American oak barrels before aging another 12 months in bottle prior to its release. Its deep ruby hue is followed by a complex, medium-bodied Rioja offering attractive red and black fruits, leafy tobacco, graphite, and scorched earth-like aromatics. It's medium-bodied, has a focused, structured mouthfeel, plenty of tannins, and outstanding length. It's surprisingly structured and tannic, so give bottles another year or two.

Loamy earth and fragrant herb notes offer a savory thread that winds through the black plum and cherry fruit, vanilla and toast flavors in this balanced, medium-bodied red. Structured by lightly chewy tannins and fresh acidity, this shows focus without excessive weight, with a long, zesty, spiced finish. Drink now through 2029.