Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Finca Sobreno Reserva – Seleccion Especiale is a blend of the estate’s best vineyard (over 50 years in age) and sees half the fruit aged in 14 months in new American oak, the remainder in used oak. It has a lifted floral bouquet of dark berries, briary and dried violets that is well-defined and seductive. The palate is medium-bodied with a succulent entry of dark cherries, balsamic, a hint of orange peel and cloves. There is good structure and focus present here, with a clean fresh, focused finish. It is very fine and very elegant for a Toro red.
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.