Teso La Monja Vina Tinto 2013 Teso La Monja

Professionele reviews

Robert Parker (95)

There are only 898 bottles of the 2013 Teso la Monja, their most expensive (yes, four digits!) and scarce bottle. Despite being a cooler and wetter vintage than the average, the grapes from 1.8 hectares of extremely old vines still achieved high ripeness (15.16%). The bunches were hand destemmed by a team of 55 people (!), and it fermented in an open-top oak vat followed by malolactic in an egg-shaped oak vat. It matured in three brand new Bordeaux barrels for no less than 24 months. This is by far the oakiest of all the wines I tasted from the winery, with abundant spices, smoke, toast, balsamic notes of incense and cigar ash. To me this much oaks detracts from the wine and tends to erase the character, even though it should resurface with time in bottle, as the vineyard certainly has the concentration and oomph to overcome the élevage. This is riper, perhaps reflecting the winemaking from those years, as the wine is released later than the rest of the range. It's super powerful but with balance, at an XXL size. For fans of the style and disposable income, a wine to have with the proverbial T-Rex t-bone. No need to rush pulling the cork. It follows the line of previous vintages with perhaps a tad more freshness in 2013. It was bottled in February 2016.

BOW (9)