Winemaker Notes
The attack is powerful and unctuous, and in just a few seconds we have an intense, lasting feeling of plenitude. However, neither of these is the wine's most surprising phase. There is a presence of acidity, but a pleasant one, with sweet, smooth tannins and an infinite mineral quality.
In the aftertaste the order of the descriptors is reversed, with the mountain herbs coming to the fore, perhaps with subtly different nuances, such as fennel, dill and hillside tea. Just as it begins to fade, the fine oak notes make a reappearance.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Prado Enea Gran Reserva, which seems to be evolving at a glacial pace. It does have a much more developed nose than the rest of the wines. It's a lot more tertiary, with notes of truffles and forest floor, smoky and spicy with a touch of cured meat, iodine and brick dust. It's full-bodied with an earthy touch. Rating:- 95+
Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.
Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.