The 2005 Marti Fabra Seleccio Vinyes Velles was sourced from vines ranging in age from 50 to 80 years. It is a blend of 70% Garnacha with the balance Carinena, Tempranillo, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon aged for ten months in French oak. Deep crimson-colored, it delivers a fragrant nose of cedar, mineral, forest floor, black cherry, and blackberry. This leads to a ripe, firm, spicy, intensely flavored wine in need of 2-3 years of cellaring. This lengthy effort will offer prime drinking from 2011 to 2018. Importer: Jorge Ordonez, Fine Estates From Spain, Dedham, MA; tel. (781) 461-5767

Rooty, warm and leathery at first, and then it really rounds into form. This Garnacha-led multigrape blend is a pretty, earthy, stylish wine that’s at peak maturity. It brings baked, rich black cherry, cola and toffee flavors and then a finish of coffee and toast. A bit syrupy but still excellent and ready now. ——M.S.(12/15/2010)—— 90