2007 Vinedos de Paganos "El Puntido" Gran Reserva Rioja
SKU #1482560
96 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Putting my nose in the glass of the 2007 El Puntido Gran Reserva transported me to the classical Riojas from yesteryear. The wine has a fully developed nose with all the textbook descriptors of a good aged Rioja—forest floor, cigar ash, cold bonfire, truffle, cherries in liqueur, blonde tobacco, spices and iodine. But this is a classical Gran Reserva that has something that was not that traditional, and it comes from a single vineyard and matured in brand new French oak barrels for 28 months. But time in bottle has polished it (it was bottled in June 2010, almost nine years ago); the tannins are mostly resolved and it's nicely textured. It has what I love about the best red wine—it's salty rather than sweet, there is no room for sweetness here, and it's sapid and tasty and has great balance and freshness. This is developing at a very slow pace and should continue doing so for a very long time. A great Gran Reserva in the making. Only 5,000 bottles were produced from 2007, a very cold vintage, when the grapes were harvested the last three days of October, and it snowed the first of November! (LG)
(6/2019)
K&L Notes
Viñedos de Páganos is the single vineyard project of the Eguren family, of Sierra Cantabria, Señorío de San Vicente, and Teso La Monja fame. This project was conceived to showcase two parcels in the town of Laguardia in the Alavesa sub region. This is a classic Gran Reserva with a subtle twist, no American oak. It spent 28 month in new French oak barrels and has been in bottle since May of 2009. This hits every note that you would expect from a Gran Reserva without the funk and expresses the chalky mineral rich soils of Rioja Alavesa.