Wine Advocate: “It Has What I Love About the Best Red Wine”
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2007 Vinedos de Paganos El Puntido Rioja Gran Reserva 750 ml
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- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
Singing After a Decade-Plus Slumber
What were you doing 13 years ago? Wine Access was still in its infancy, the first iPhone had just made its debut, and Bob Barker hosted his last episode of The Price is Right—but Viñedos de Páganos’s 2007 El Puntido was already in barrel. Now, over a decade later, we’ve pried a tiny quantity of this perfectly aged Gran Reserva from the winery’s hands.
This is a phenomenal bottle, a single-vineyard project from the Eguren family, best known for Sierra Cantabria’s Mágico—their allocated $700+ Rioja. Bold, powerful, and silky, it’s a stunning example of mature Rioja.
However, Páganos only makes their Gran Reserva in the most profound years, from a single vineyard that’s known for high quality…and low yields. Production is just 416 cases, lower than many of California’s cult icons.
Pull the cork and you’ll see just how kind time has been to this wine. Explosive aromatics of black-cherry fruit, exotic spices, and hints of Tahitian vanilla mingle with the notes that age brings, like forest floor, truffle, and fireplace embers. It’s mesmerizing in its complexity—the sort of wine we could smell all night, except a nose that enticing demands a sip to confirm its greatness. On the palate, it has powerful, rich fruit that unwinds into a velvety masterpiece.
Located in the heart of Rioja Alavesa and planted to 100% Tempranillo, El Puntido perfectly expresses the focused, mineral-driven side of the region.
The result is a Rioja with a purity and precision that set it apart from the region’s other top wines. Wine Advocate declared that “it has what I love about the best red wine”—and we can’t help but agree.