2016 Pavina Pinot Noir & Tempranillo blend - Alta Pavina

Ripe raspberry, tobacco resin, macerated cherry. Fresh blueberry, wild sage, tart strawberry. Peat moss and red pepper flake, sappy violet and potpourri. Mulberry, black licorice, and fig paste create an illusion of concentrated darkness that quickly dissipates into cranberry compote and slightly under ripe red berries. A wild earthy streak follows bringing tree bark, parched earth, and limestone that eventually calms into cedar, vanilla, and allspice. Rosemary and peppercorn round out a wonderfully seasoned profile that is both lively and rich without excess saturation. Medium plus in body, with mouth-filling tannin and a pleasant acidic streak. This 2016 Pavina Pinot Noir & Tempranillo blend by Alta Pavina is an extremely unique and exceptionally interesting red from Spain's Ribera del Duero.

The Ribera del Duero region of northern Spain is considered one of the greatest wine producing zones in all of Southwestern Europe. Tempranillo is by far the most popular grape variety grown here and is used as the base of the area's most prestigious wines. This bottling, crafted by Alta Pavina using a blend of 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Tempranillo sourced from a single unique site in Ribera del Duero, is completely unlike the wines this region is traditionally known for. Thanks to their high elevation vineyard and the cooler temperatures it brings Alta Pavina has found tremendous success producing Pinot Noir in this typically hot and dry zone. This wine manages to feel fresh and bright, displaying delicate and complex Pinot typicity, yet it contains a sizable dose of brawny Tempranillo muscle. The two parts mesh surprisingly seamlessly here and together create a highly unconventional yet remarkably successful blend. This stuff might seem a bit weird to Pinot purists but we completely and thoroughly enjoyed it.