Sierra Cantabria Crianza 2018
-
James
Suckling -
Wilfred
Wong -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Intense cherry notes intermixed with notes of cocoa and coffee. A powerful yet refined palate with notes of smoke and juiciness.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A beautiful Crianza with blackberry, lead pencil and graphite, as well as bark. It’s medium-bodied with a solid core of fruit and a flavorful finish. Pretty texture.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Sierra Cantabria Crianza is delicious and slightly elevated on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with aromas and flavors of blackberries and spice. Serve it with slow-braised meat dishes. (Tasted: August 22, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
-
Wine Enthusiast
With a bouquet of dark plums, herbes de Provence and tobacco leaf, this wine has flavors of blackberry, black currant, butterscotch, anise and thyme, with downy tannins and a bright, pomegranate-splashed finish.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Offering real Rioja character, the 2018 Crianza is 100% Tempranillo. Lots of red and black fruits, vanilla oak, cedary spice, and tobacco notes are just some of the nuances on the nose, and it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, some background chocolaty oak, good overall balance, and outstanding length.
Other Vintages
2019-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Wilfred
Wong
-
Wilfred
Wong -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
-
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wilfred
Wong
-
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker
Bodegas Sierra Cantabria was founded by Guillermo Eguren, a self-made bodeguero, who was, in the family tradition, a viticulturist. His family, native to San Vicente de La Sonsierra, one of the most sought-after terroirs in Rioja, had grown grapes in Rioja Alta and Alavesa since the 1870’s. For decades the family sold their grapes to local producers, but Guillermo recognized the potential that his family's vineyards had to create great wine and founded Bodegas Sierra Cantabria in 1957. Today, the fourth generation of the Eguren family directs all aspects of the winemaking process, with Marcos Eguren as the winemaker and director of operations and his brother Miguel Angel Eguren as the general manager. The family still prides themselves as viticulturists first, and as a result, all the grapes are estate grown. As viticulturists in Rioja Alavesa, they grow a vast majority of Tempranillo, with only a small percentage of Garnacha and Graciano, as they recognize that Garnacha and Graciano do not ripen reliably in northern Rioja.
Bodegas Sierra Cantabria is the family's original winery and comprises a collection of their most classic style Rioja wines. Due to their viticultural background, the family’s wines are composed of mostly Tempranillo, as they recognize that Garnacha and Graciano do not ripen reliably in Northern Rioja.
Although the family's business has evolved over the years through the foundation of other projects, Bodegas Sierra Cantabria comprises their most traditional, classic styled wines. The wines are made from a blend of selected vineyards, as opposed to Viñedos Sierra Cantabria, which is the family's collection of single vineyard wines.
Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.
Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.