Winemaker Notes
A single vineyard wine sourced from the Paraje de Cueva Baja made up of just 3 hectares of old vines planted on very loose soils of clay and sand.
Exceptional vintage in terms of quality, concentration, balance, and ageing ability.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Terreus Paraje de Cueva Baja was cropped from a cool vintage when the vineyard saw some snow and a slow ripening of the grapes, which were harvested on the 16th of September under perfect conditions. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and daily pump-overs, followed by malolactic in barrel and 20 months in French barrique. There is a lot of purity in this wine, and it shows the effect of the cooler year. They are increasing the percentage of used barrique, and the oak feels better integrated. It's a very serious wine, with depth, complexity and persistence. I think there's more and more effect from the limestone soils in the wine (texture!) as the élevage marks the wine is a softer way. This is among the finest vintages of Terreus.
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Wine Enthusiast
This deep-ruby-colored wine has a bouquet of black cherry, black olive paste and thyme. It is smooth on the palate, with plush tannins and flavors of black cherry, blackberry, clove, dark chocolate and dried mountainside herbs that culminate in a soft, spicy finish.
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Wine Spectator
This vibrant, harmonious red is tightly meshed at first, slowly unfurling on the palate to show an enticing range of cherry and strawberry reduction, medicinal herb, mocha and spiced orange notes. The chalky tannins are fine, providing a taut, well-defined frame and firming the minerally finish. Tempranillo. Best after 2024. 410 cases made, 50 cases imported.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.