Abadía Retuerta Pago Negralada 2015 Magnum

The textbook Tempranillo 2015 Pago Negralada, tasted 10 years after the harvest is still quite tannic. This was harvested on September 24, quite early in a warm and dry year that delivered powerful wines with abundant tannins. It has good ripeness, with 14.5% alcohol. This is slightly more powerful, concentrated and oaky than the 2016 I tasted next to it. It was a ripe and powerful year, and the wine has notes of black olives and a full-bodied palate with more tannins. It will keep for longer, but I'm not sure the tannins are not going to outlast the fruit. From the 37 barriques of this wine, they are releasing 1,500 bottles in 2025. It was bottled in May 2017.

A concentrated tempranillo with a ton of fine-grained tannins. This is still a little shy on the smoky and cocoa-powder nose, but is beginning to develop very nicely on the well structured palate. A touch less oak might have given this more. Drink or hold.

One of those rare wines in which everything is at the right place: acidity, tannins, fruit, oak. Highly enjoyable now, in 15 years’ time it will become an unforgettable experience. The 1999 is now gorgeous. The vineyard is exceptional, planted in the lands of a former monastic order after extensive soil analysis and terroir selection works undertaken by the best specialists in Spain. 17 months’ oak.