Score: 94/100
Paraje la Golosa is a single varietal wine, 100% Tempranillo wine, made by Alejandro Fernández (Grupo Pesquera) in its Bodegas El Vínculo de Campo de Criptana (Ciudad Real) in the La Mancha región of Central Spain.
Being a Gran Reserva, it was aged for 24 months in French oak barrels.
I usually taste wine blind, well, let’s say half-blind!
I do know where the wine comes from, and I’ve seen the label. But I do not research a wine, or look up how much it costs before I taste it. I take each sample I receive one after the other… half-blindly.
Many very respected producers send you (as to a wine blogger) a mix of their top wines with their more affordable branded stuff.
El Vínculo was one of these wines. For sure Alejandro Fernández is a very famous and respected Spanish producer, responsible for putting together the ultra-classic (and good) Tinto Pesquera from Ribera del Duero.
But his ‘El Vínculo’ didn’t really ring the bell for me. Yet, at tasting it, it appeared to be an absolute revelation of a tasting experience, coming out of nowhere.
Tasting this good, I looked up its price online. Only to find out that it is actually very affordable, although rare and hard to find.
If YOU can find this 2004 El Vínculo, go for it and buy it…
given what you read in my tasting notes below sounds like it could be a wine you’d enjoy… as much as I did.
Tasting Notes
This Spanish red comes in a very deep and dark red color, profound red to the core, nearly black, also very dark to the rime displaying an intriguing darkness and color density.
The nose perhaps explains it a little. It is just as profound to smell at as it is to look at!
The aromatic profile is very intense, you could say pungent in fact. But it’s so deep you actually don’t really feel like trying to pick out individual notes, you just want to get lost in its charming complexity, smelling it ever and ever again. Somewhat like a black hole of a nose! But let’s try to identify some notes…
Dark prune, black raisins and blackberry jam are the generous fruity characters coming through mainly. They are accompanied by a chili-like spicy smell, and underlying black pepper, dark cocoa, some vanilla, and intangible oaky notes. As I said, it’s hard to describe, but believe me, it smells tempting and intriguing!
Put the wine in your mouth, and you’re submerged by the generosity of its texture, super-smooth velvety tannins feel like they’re floating in an oily sea. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t feel heavy, as there is plenty of tension in the wine’s wealthy acidity too.
Dense the tannic structure certainly is, granulous, between silky and velvety, but very characterful. An abundance of sweet spices, dark roasted cocoa, a touch of bitter coffee, bit date and fig liqueur, blackberry jam and black pepper inundate your palate, without being overwhelming.
This is precisely the outstanding feature in this wine. It’s big, and feel very generous, in particular through its bitingly dense yet smooth tannins, but it delivers its power with refinement and control.
The finish IS long, but will get ever longer and more layered with even further aging!
Overall
Truly a stunning Spanish red wine comes here in the form of the 2004 El Vínculo.
An outstandingly deep wine, both generous and big, dense and textural, but also razor-sharp precise in the way it delivers its flavors and aromas. Dry and savory, filled with black olive and dark cocoa flavors, it is big-heartedly fruity, delivering a wealth of a warming dried fruit liqueur feel.
The power of the warming Spanish sun, encapsulated in a sophisticated wine, by vines that seems to have nurtured their grapes towards perfection for our sole enjoyment.
A wine to experience it absolutely is… if you’re lucky enough to get a chance!
Enjoy 🙂
El Vínculo Paraje La Golosa Gran Reserva Label Images
Please let me know your thoughts