Anthos 2006 is the 'first vintage' of this wine. A wine aged for 28 months in oak barrels which then spends 9 years in the bottle before reaching the glass.A Tempranillo with a percentage of Graciano.
Logically you can imagine the 'nervousness' about this tasting. A Tempranillo with a percentage of Graciano.
Logic says that a wine with these characteristics should be decanted, as after so much time in the bottle it could have some reduction. And so I did part of it, I decanted it and left part of it in the bottle to see if there was a different evolution.
At first glance I expected a wine with a high, deep, very intense layer. Not at all, the wine is at the perfect point of color, red edges that indicate that the wine is at an ideal point for tasting according to its aging, a medium layer, good amount of tear and very fluid. When moving the glass you can even perceive the characteristics of a young wine of medium ageing. If I didn't know what was in front of me, I would bet on a 12-month crianza wine with a couple of years at most in the bottle. A wine enormously alive in the glass.
My first surprise is that shortly after decanting it, the presence of the fruit reached my nose instantly, without ever perceiving much reduction, but nothing of what I expected at the beginning of a wine aged for almost 12 years between barrel and bottle.
In the nose the fruit was perfectly perceptible and gives way to the touches of aging. Secondary aromas perfectly balanced and assembled to the fruit. Vanilla, spicy touches, noble woods, ... all present but with an incredible subtlety, without ever overlapping the fruit. What's more, I would say that they enhance it and help it to give a surprising sensation of freshness.
The wine bouquet is marvellously intertwined with the previous aromas of truffle, dried and candied plums, cedar,...
A nose with medium-high intensity and enormously frank. It is enough to go sip by sip and be able to perceive the expressiveness that this wine gives.
Incredibly, it has a silky, 'fresh' entry into the mouth that anticipates a passage through the mouth with a lot of fruit, spicy hints of the wood, all perfectly structured and with surprising elegance. Rarely have I come across a wine with so much fruit presence that it is so elegant. The tannins are perfectly smoothed. Quite a long pass with good persistence and an aftertaste that perfectly combines fruit and ageing.