2005 Bodegas Hermanos Pecina Senorio de P. Pecina Rioja
($14) Dark red. Spicy cherry and red berry scents are complicated by dusty dried flowers and minerals. Red fruit flavors are braced by zesty acidity and pick up faint earth and underbrush accents with air. This has structure but it's not austere. Finishes with a sweet, silky strawberry note and very good persistence.
2000 Bodegas Hermanos Pecina Senorio de P. Pecina Crianza Rioja
($24) Light red. Explosive, perfumed nose offers a range of coconut-accented red berry aromas complicated by fresh and dried flowers, vanilla and cured tobacco. Sweet red fruit flavors are supple and expansive, with a distinctly old school character. Fine-grained tannins add structure to the long, silky finish. This is ready to drink and quite delicious.
1999 Bodegas Hermanos Pecina Senorio de P. Pecina Reserva Rioja
($35) Fading red. Fresh strawberry, succulent herbs, roses and vanilla on the seductive nose. Energetic, precise red berry flavors boast impressive depth and sweetness, with barely noticeable tannins and slow-mounting minerality adding more verve. Bright, spicy and insistent strawberry and redcurrant flavors define the long, juicy finish.
1998 Bodegas Hermanos Pecina Senorio de P. Pecina Gran Reserva Rioja
($58) Medium red. Suave red berry, kirsch, anise and dried rose aromas are compelling and strikingly precise. Silky in texture and packed with sweet red berry, licorice, vanilla bean and floral pastille flavors. Fine-grained tannins lend structure to this suave, flat-out delicious wine, which possesses outstanding depth and complexity and finishes with haunting floral echoes. (Vinos & Gourmet, Richmond, CA)
