Pago Valdebellon, Bodega Abadía Retuerta 1996

The 1996 Valdebelon is made from a parcel of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon planted in the estate's highest vineyard (at an altitude of over 2,400 feet). With yields of under 22 hectoliters per hectare, this wine is reminiscent of an exotic, hypothetical blend of Mouton-Rothschild and Latour. The color is opaque purple, and the nose offers up aromas of black currants, lead pencil, minerals, walnuts, and creme de cassis. Structured, dense, and full-bodied, with an exotic, flamboyant personality, this superb, concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon is ostentatious at present, but will undoubtedly shut down after several years in the bottle, unfolding slowly over the next two decades.