The 2005 Gran Reserva was sourced from vines over 60 years of age and aged for 24 months in French oak. A glass-coating opaque purple color (in the style of the large-scaled 2005 vintage), it offers up a fragrant perfume of exotic spices, lavender, incense, tapenade, licorice, and blackberry. Plush on the palate with plenty of underlying structure, this loaded effort will benefit from another 4-5 years of cellaring and provide optimum drinking from 2016 to 2025+. Vina Pilar is essentially the second label of Callejo made from the estate's younger Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) vines. Importer: F.L. Navarro, The Artisan Collection, Brooklyn, NY; Tel. (781) 596-0722

The 2004 Callejo Gran Reserva, from a great vintage in Ribera del Duero, is purple/black colored with a taciturn nose of Asian spices, lavender, incense, pencil lead, and blackberry. Dense and packed on the palate, it has superb volume and balance, power combined with elegance, and a 45-second finish. This outstanding effort merits 4-6 years of additional cellaring and will deliver peak drinking from 2014 to 2029. Importer: The Artisan Collection, New York, NY; tel. (212) 608-0722

A wine that reflects its northern Ribera location (Sotillo) through zesty, pointed aromas and some gritty char and minerality. The nose shows plenty of solid oak, chocolate and spice, and in the mouth the acids are a bit sharp and thus the wine is kind of spiky and angular. Still, it’s a very nice RDD, just not as generous as it could or should be. Drink now–2019. ——M.S.(10/1/2010)—— 89

The 1999 Gran Reserva comes from the estate’s vines of over 60 years of age. It spent 24 months in French and American oak. The barrel notes are prominent in the aromatics along with mineral, earth, leather, and blackberry elements. The wine becomes a bit lean on the mid-palate and the finish although the flavors are attractive. Drink it over the next 4-6 years. The Callejo family owns 60 hectares of low yielding Tempranillo vines (Tinto Fino as it is known in Ribera del Duero) ranging in age from 25-70 years. All of the following wines are 100% Tempranillo from estate vineyards and were fermented with native yeasts. Importer: F.L. Navarro, Quality Wines of Spain, New York, NY; tel. (212) 842-8181