The Abadía Retuerta Selección Especial 2008 is made from 75% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 % Merlot.
It was aged 18 months in French and American oak.
Tasting notes: Very intense dark black cherry colour. Complex and attractive nose, fresh red fruit and hints of eucalyptus well integrated with the wood, aromas of roasted coffee and caramel that comes trough pleasantly. A very soft and gentle entrance leads to a very expressive and aromatic wine in the mouth: it opens up in the palate to reveal more complexity. Great balance between alcohol, acidity and structure with very fine and soft quality tannins. A very long wine, very persistent.
Elaboración: After the analysis of the grapes from our 54 sub-plots, they are fermented separately. The fermentation is adapted to the quality of the grape of each plot. As a general rule, it is pumped over many times during the first moments of the alcoholic fermentation (aqueous stage), then more moderately, determining them by taste. The duration of the maceration is also determined for each plot by taste. After the malolactic fermentation in stainless steel, the wines are selected for blending before spending eighteen months in the barrel.
What the critics say...
Robert Parker: 90 points(01/06/2011)
The 2008 Seleccion Especial is composed of 75% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Merlot. Aromas of cinnamon, clove, pepper, lavender, and black cherry lead to a racy, smooth-textured, nicely balanced wine that can be approached now and over the next 6-8 years. It is a very good value.
Proensa Guide: 89 points
Pairing: Aged Cheese, Game Animals, Grilled Red Meats, Legume, Roasts, Stews.
It is placed in Sardon of Duero (Valladolid), in the estate called Santa Maria de Retuerta. The winery is known as ´El Pago de la Milla de Oro´, because its wines are elaborated in the best wine-growing zone of Spain, geographically located between Peñafiel and Tudela of Duero. It uses... exclusively grapes of its own vineyards for the elaboration of its wines. Total surface planted of its vineyards (210 hectares) is distributed: 65 % Tempranillo, 25 % Cabernet Sauvignon and 10 % Merlot, experiencing nowadays with Syrah and Petit verdiot vineyards. Its warehouse with a surface of 10.000m2, elaborates wine from 1996, combines the traditional wine-growing with the most advance technology being one of most advanced of Europe. The Winery offers alternative activities like tastings and guided visits, with the possibility in a very next future of lodging at the Abbey´s 18 rooms hotel.
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