Pago de Carraovejas Ribera del Duero el Anejon 2018 750ml

The 2018 El Anejón is a blend of 81% Tinto Fino, 12% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon from a very steep slope where they have to make it terraced. First produced in 2009, the wine fermented in oak vat and matured in new barrels for one year. It was a very good vintage after the frost of 2017 (when they only produced Pago de Carraovejas); they had enough rain and cooler temperatures, and the crop was very balanced. The summer was dry and warm, the grapes achieved very good ripeness, and the wine finished with 15.5% alcohol. It has a ripe nose with some earthy notes, and despite all the new oak, the wine does not feel too oaky (they also keep the bottled wine for three years before it’s released). It’s very ripe and comes through as powerful, with plenty of tannin and a dark profile of aromas, developing notes of black olives with time in the glass. They are concerned about the alcohol level in the wine (in the past, they never harvested anything below 14% alcohol), but their main concern is the balance in the wine. It needs some more time in bottle. 16,000 bottles produced.