1994 | Sierra Cantabria | Senorio de San Vicente Tempranillo

Generous, round and polished, with ripe plum and dried fig flavors, balanced by licorice, cigar box, spice and mineral notes that echo on the long finish.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The dense garnet-colored 1994 Rioja, which will be released in several months, appears to have a 10-12 year plateau of drinkability. The extraordinary aromatics consist of ripe, jammy fruits intermixed with smoke, cedar, tobacco, and spice. Admirable lushness and elegance that are suave and refined, supple tannin, and layers of richness yet an overall restraint, make me wonder if this is not a Rioja made in the image of a Chateau Margaux, where richness is combined with elegance. Interestingly, the owners refused to declare any wine in the difficult Rioja vintages of 1992 and 1993. This winery should be followed closely, as the seamless, complex, enthralling 1991s and 1994s evidence. This single-vineyard, luxury Rioja is the brainchild of the Eguren family. The 45-acre vineyard possesses much denser vine spacing than most Rioja vineyards (about 4500 vines per hectare), and is planted at a high altitude of nearly 1600 feet. Although made from young vines (12 years), the wine is given at least 30 days of maceration, aged for 20 months in American oak barrels, and bottled without filtration. Less than 1000 cases were made of the 1991, but in 1994, the winery was in full production and produced just over 6000 cases. This looks to be one of the more stunning, newer-styled Riojas to emerge from Spain. Readers should take note, as I suspect prices will only go up.

• Wine Spectator: This was the first great vintage for Spain's emerging "modern" style, and this wine epitomizes its virtues. Generous, round and polished, with ripe plum and dried fig flavors, balanced by licorice, cigar box, spice and mineral notes that echo on the long finish. The well-integrated tannins are still firm, promising a long road ahead.—Non-blind San Vicente vertical (November 2019). Drink now through 2034.

Producer Information

Sierra Cantabria is a leading Spanish wine producer known for its Tempranillo-based range from Rioja and Toro. The company was founded by the Eguren family in 1870, and was previously known as Bodegas Eguren. Fourth generation Marcus Eguren is regarded as one of the country's leading winemakers. The company is made up of several different bodegas and their associated vineyards. The Sierra Cantabria winery itself is located in the heart of the town of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, in Rioja Alta, and makes a range of classic Rioja wines from 19 vineyard sites totalling 65 hectares (160 acres). Sierra Cantabria also makes a range of single-vineyard wines from the region, including the Señorio de San Vicente wine from the La Canoca vineyard in the Sierra de Cantabria foothills, which is planted with the near-extinct Tempranillo Peludo. Near the medieval village of Laguardia in the Basque Rioja Alavesa zone, the Viñedos de Paganos winery produces single-vineyard cuvées from three plots, which are aged in underground cellars cut beneath the vineyards. Sierra Catabria also has an estate in the Páganos province, Dominio de Eguren, which makes wines from 15 hectares (37 acres) of vineyard (as well as buying fruit) to produce the Protocolo and Codice wines under the Vino de la Tierra de Castilla and Vinos de Mesa classifications. In the Toro region, the Eguren family also own the Teso La Monja estate (founded in 2007), one of the leading properties in the region. The winery's establishment coincided with the sale of cult Toro estate, Numanthia, which the Egurens helped establish. Teso La Monja's flagship wine, also titled "Teso la Monja", is one of the most expensive red wines made in any Spanish region. The estate also produces the Románico, Almirez, Victorino and Alabaster labels (listed in order of cellar-aging).

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