I’m concerned for this bottle.  The cork was extruded, indicating possible heat damage.  The color looks good, dark purple, opaque.  The nose is reassuring, sublime.  Classic aged Rioja.  Oaky, earthy, damson and plum reduction.  The palate shows some heat damage unfortunately and is a bit thin.

I will try my best here considering- flavors of ripe fig, blueberry and plum come at me with a noticeable amount of earthiness.  The mid palate is very much textbook- bramble, dirt, tart acidity and iodine.  The finish is decent in length but has some stewed fruits that I think are from the heat.  Nice tannins and some bracing acidity all form up at the end.  It’s a shame because it could potentially be a 92 point wine.  I paid $40 for this Tempranillo which would have made it a 5 pointer.  Salut….

Moderate shade of purple and nearly opaque. I leaves long, thin legs on the glass.  The nose is raspberries, cherry and iodine.  On the palate is grips right away with acidity, masking the red fruit salad that I finally get. There’s also a rooibos tea component, calming amongst the flurry of tartness.  The mid palate is cutting, this acidity is actually bothering me.  It’s too much, without fruit to offset it or much tannic bite to balance it.  The finish is more of the same.  86 points.  A shame really as it got good reviews .  Bottle #2 is much better- less cut, more fruit. Still very tart but I will go with 88 points.  For the advertised price of $40, this is a 2 star Tempranillo.  Sorry folks, nothing to see here.  Salut….