An Explosive Spanish Syrah

2005 Finca Sandoval Manchuela

Right out of the bottle this wine is a plummy, purple, inky color, reminiscent of a young high-end Barossa shiraz. The aromas initially show cedar planks, cassis, black cherry and a hint of green olive. Over the course of three hours the aromas evolved to show sweet cassis and rich pipe tobacco. The palate is really smooth and sexy, with fine tannins and dense fruit. Cassis and black cherry are the primary flavors, but there's also some tobacco and meat gravy as well. Just enough acid for freshness. There's a really velvety feel to this wine, although it maintains its power through and through. Oak accents the finish. At first the oak seemed too pronounced for my tastes, but as the wine opened up the oak became less of an issue. The finish also has notes of bitter chocolate and coffee. This wine is showing very well right now, but there's clearly at least another five years of maturation until this wine reaches its peak. I drank this with my friend Kevin at his place, and we had a great time. He really enjoyed the wine. 78% syrah and some mourvedre and bobal.

91 points