2018 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias
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Tasting notes
Glistening ruby. Intensely perfumed aromas of red and blue fruit preserves, exotic spices, potpourri and olive are sharpened by a smoky mineral nuance. Juicy and energetic in character, offering seductively sweet, mineral-laced boysenberry and black raspberry liqueur flavors along with candied violet and star anise flourishes. The floral and spice notes drive an extremely long, penetrating finish that features velvety tannins and lingering minerality.
Critic scores
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Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
The floral 2018 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias is the next vintage after the 2015, as no 2016 or 2017 could be produced. This has a Northern Rhône nose that mixes violets and smoked meat, very showy. The palate is seamless and refined, with very fine, silky tannins. Like many of their wines, 2018 could very well be the finest vintage of this wine to date. This has much lower alcohol (13.2%) and more acidity. In 2018, they used all the white grapes from one of the plots, which could be a significant 6% of white grapes, and also some 5% Merenzao, so the wine is somewhat more fluid and nuanced. The two plots used for this wine are in the paraje of Matalospardos in Valtuille. This is the most complete and complex of the 2018s. 3,500 bottles and 36 magnums were filled in early May 2020.