The 2004 Reserva is 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano from 35-year-old vines. It was aged for 18 months in new French and American oak. Purple-colored, it reveals lots of toasty new oak aromas as well as notes of chocolate, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. Plush on the palate, all components are nicely integrated, and there is enough structure to support another 4-6 years in the cellar. This full-flavored, lengthy wine should provide pleasure through 2030.Bodegas y Vinedos Heras Cordon is one of the showcase wineries of Rioja. The winemaker is the talented Alejandra Roxane Schmedes from renowned Rioja producer Bodegas Remirez de Ganuza.Importer: Tom George, Frontier Wine Imports, Dover, NJ; tel. (973) 328-4500

Stemmy and rough out of the blocks, with aromas of rubber and strawberry. Seems grabby in the mouth due to rather rough tannins and high acidity, and overall the wine seems forced but lacking in the essentials. Quite expensive given the result. Imported by Frontier Wine Imports. ——M.S.(10/1/2009)—— 83