The 2005 Palomero is 100% Tinta Fino sourced from a single vineyard with vines over 80 years of age. It was aged for 23 months in new French oak before bottling without fining or filtration. Opaque purple-colored, it offers an excellent nose of toasty new oak, mineral, and black fruits. On the palate, the wine is tightly wound, brooding, and tannic. There is plenty of fruit but whether it will come into balance or stay hard and austere remains to be seen. This is not a wine for the risk-averse.Importer: Aurelio Cabestrero, Grapes of Spain, Lorton, VA; tel. (571) 642-0343

The 2004 Palomero is Bodegas Uvaguilera’s best effort since the sensational 2001. Produced from 100% Tinto Fino (the local clone of Tempranillo) from a single 70-year-old vineyard, the wine was aged for 16 months in new French oak before bottling without fining or filtration. Opaque purple-colored, it exhibits a flamboyant nose of hard wood charcoal, spice box, vanilla, mineral, leather, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. Full-bodied, intense, and layered with flavor, it has enough structure for 6-8 years of positive evolution, and a beautifully delineated, very long, firm finish. Forget about this great effort for a while and you will be amply rewarded. It should drink well through 2025.Importer: Aurelio Cabestrero, Grapes of Spain, Lorton, VA; tel. 571.642.0343 fax 571.642.0505