Vinedos de Paganos - Rioja Gran Reserva El Puntido 2008 (750ml)

 

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97

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Producer	Vinedos de Paganos
Country	Spain
Region	La Rioja
Varietal	Tempranillo
Vintage	2008
Sku	210000002138
Size	750ml

Vinedos de Paganos El Puntido Gran Reserva 2008

Vinedos de Paganos is a winery owned by the Eguren family and it was started in the great 2001 Vintage. From that date forward we have seen the wines from this producer increase in quality every vintage. The winery has lowered yields, and in turn production. This shows they are not about money, rather producing the best wine possible. The wines have been noted to be some of the most elegant, mineral driven expressions of Rioja. The winery has two estate vineyards, El Pundito and La Nieta, both where located in the medieval town of Paganos.

“El Pundito” in Spanish means “staircase landing”. The name was derived from the shape of the land between Sierra Cantabria and the Ebro river. Two wines are produced from this vineyard, Calados del Pundito, which is their entry level wine sourced from the higher yielding vines on the vineyard. El Pundito, the wine I am offering you today, is the Top wine from this vineyard soucred from the oldest, lowest yielding vines on the property. The Eguren family considers the “El Pundito” wine to be the paradigm of mineral expression tempranillo in all of Rioja.

We were lucky enough to stumble across a few cases of the 2008 Vintage of Vinedos de Paganos “El Pundito” 2008. This wine has been awarded 97 Pts by Robert Parkers wine advocate. The wine has had 10+ years in the bottle (bottled in 2011) and its drinking magnificent now. You could also lay this wine down further, and it will continue to develop.

Winemaker Notes: Aromas of espresso, dark chocolate, plum and pomegranate backed by round tannins and balsamic acidity define this complex wine with subtle nuances. It remains balanced and polished on its spicy finish. A distinctive, unmistakable wine.

I was greatly impressed by the 2008 El Puntido Gran Reserva, a wine with a more traditional profile than the majority of wines from the Eguren family. At age 14, the wine is glorious, still young and with a mixture of primary and more developed notes. It goes more in the direction of the old wines, with balsamic notes of incense and cedarwood, mushrooms and some berries and herbs. It's complex and elegant, with fully resolved tannins. This was bottled back in May 2011, so it's been in bottle for over a decade, and the texture shows it.