: « Tasting Notes: Appearance: Very deep, intense cherry-red with a garnet rim. Nose:... » See more...
: « Tasting Notes: Appearance: Very deep, intense cherry-red with a garnet rim. Nose: Museum Real 2003 evinces a whole spectrum of spicy notes to the nose, the result of its ageing in oak, combined with aromas of jam and ripe fruits. It is subtle and enveloping, with smoky cigar tones which evolve towards notes of very ripe red fruits. Mouth: Powerful, meaty and voluminous, the ripeness of the fruit has polished the tannins and overall it is velvety, tasty and expressive, with a magnificent mouth feel and a very long finish. Vineyards: This wine comes from a selection of very old vines, more than 70 years old, in one of the highest parts of the Pisuerga Valley at an altitude of some 790 metres, producing yields between 1,000 and 2,500 kilos per hectare. The harsh climate and temperature differences between day and night, together with soils made up of a stony surface and a clayey-sandy-calcareous sub-soil, results in grapes whose health and ripeness, in terms of both alcohol and polyphenols, verge on perfection. Vintage: Official vintage rating of the Cigales D.O.: Excellent. Growth cycle: After very regular budding, the spring was hot and rainy, leading on to a very hot month of August with cool nights. All this led to good, though unequal, phenolic ripening, which required a staggered harvest. Winemaking Process: After manual harvesting in 350 kilo tubs and careful selection at the sorting tables, the grapes were destemmed and placed in 15,000 kilo stainless steel tanks. Fermentation took place at 29°C with frequent overpumping in order to obtain the maximum extraction of colour, tannins and aromas. Based on daily tasting sessions and analyses, our oenological team determined the optimum moment for devatting, 21 days after the process began. Aging: Museum Real 2003 was aged for 24 months in new French oak casks with frequent racking and filling, using casks from up to 5 different coopers to give the wine greater complexity. This French oak proved to be ideal for such concentrated wines, which it “opens up” aromatically to achieve their greatest expression. After natural stabilization, the wine was bottled and left to rest in our bottle racks at a controlled temperature for a minimum of 18 months before reaching the optimum moment for drinking." »