Numanthia Termanthia 2001

"(from ungrafted vines that date back at least 120 years-from before phylloxera arrived in Spain-according to importer Jorge Ordonez) Saturated medium ruby. Nose like a first-growth Bordeaux: raspberry, cassis, violet, lead pencil and baking spices. Utterly suave on entry, then extremely fine-grained in the middle palate. A huge but tightly wound wine, with great penetration on the palate and no sense of excess weight. Juicy and wonderfully long, but the wine's fruit flavors are kept under wrap by strong tannins. Like a Pauillac on steroids. The yield here was reportedly about half a ton per acre. This was aged in 200% new oak, including a second pass through new Darnajou barrels. Extraordinary wine." - 95+ Points, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (September 2004)