Cepa 21 2011

"I found the 2011 Cepa 21 very oaky. It is Tempranillo from 15-year-old slope vineyards planted higher up on clay and chalk soils, and aged for one year in French oak barrel. The nose is a mixture of sweet spices, sawdust, smoke, dark chocolate, roasted coffee and ripe black berries, with the oak at the forefront and the fruit in the background. The palate also shows abundant, dusty tannins that coat your tongue with a soft astringency, coupled with lowish acidity. Perhaps the riper vintage -- compared with 2010 -- has taken more of the oak, so I'd give it a little bit of time to come into better balance as it did with time in the glass and plenty of aeration, showing more balsamic hints plus notes of anise seed and fennel. Both this wine and the entry level Hito are now closed with Diam. 200,000 bottles produced".