Winemaker Notes
Bright ruby colour. Fruity aromas of ripe red berries with lactic and toasted notes, as well as hints of black tea leaves. Fresh, pleasant, with fi ne tannins that develop tactile impressions. An easy-drinking wine.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
An intense Sonsierra wine with a modernist touch, the 2020 Crianza is 100% Tempranillo sourced from San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Labastida, Rioja. Aged for 14 months in oak barrels, this purple wine presents aromas of violets and cherry against a balsamic and herbal backdrop. Dry, juicy and compact on the palate, the taut, fine-grained tannins lead to a lingering, mouthwatering finish. This is a well-crafted Rioja with an enticing style.
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James Suckling
Peppercorn funk, spices and juicy plums and cherries. Fine-grained and firm on the palate, with a medium to full body and a structured, medium-long finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Sierra Cantabria Crianza is all Tempranillo from estate fruit and was aged 14 months in used French and American oak barrels. It's a rock-solid, even outstanding Crianza offering classic red and black fruits, graphite, savory herbs, and leather-like aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, concentrated, and balanced, it has some firmer tannins that should soften over the coming 3-4 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The creamy 2020 Crianza was fermented with yeasts selected from their vineyards and matured in French and American oak barrels for 14 months. It's ripe and spicy, with abundant, fine-grained tannins.
Rating: 90+ -
Wine Spectator
A harmonious red, showing good energy and a sanguine edge, this features a core of dried cherry and black raspberry flavors, plus notes of Mediterranean herbs, milled pepper, iron and citrus peel. Drink now through 2029.
Bodegas Sierra Cantabria was founded by Guillermo Eguren, a self-made bodeguero, who was, in the family tradition, a viticulturist. His family, native to San Vicente de La Sonsierra, one of the most sought-after terroirs in Rioja, had grown grapes in Rioja Alta and Alavesa since the 1870’s. For decades the family sold their grapes to local producers, but Guillermo recognized the potential that his family's vineyards had to create great wine and founded Bodegas Sierra Cantabria in 1957. Today, the fourth generation of the Eguren family directs all aspects of the winemaking process, with Marcos Eguren as the winemaker and director of operations and his brother Miguel Angel Eguren as the general manager. The family still prides themselves as viticulturists first, and as a result, all the grapes are estate grown. As viticulturists in Rioja Alavesa, they grow a vast majority of Tempranillo, with only a small percentage of Garnacha and Graciano, as they recognize that Garnacha and Graciano do not ripen reliably in northern Rioja.
Bodegas Sierra Cantabria is the family's original winery and comprises a collection of their most classic style Rioja wines. Due to their viticultural background, the family’s wines are composed of mostly Tempranillo, as they recognize that Garnacha and Graciano do not ripen reliably in Northern Rioja.
Although the family's business has evolved over the years through the foundation of other projects, Bodegas Sierra Cantabria comprises their most traditional, classic styled wines. The wines are made from a blend of selected vineyards, as opposed to Viñedos Sierra Cantabria, which is the family's collection of single vineyard wines.
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.