The Wine Advocate - 12 Mar 2026 - Luis Gutiérrez - Sierra Cantabria Coleccion Privada 2023 - 94/100 - 2027 - 2037 - $98
The 2023 Colección Privada, which they like to describe as the conjunction of tradition and modernity, was produced with 50% whole clusters and matured in 50% French and 50% American oak barrels, all new, for 16 months. I found this unusually serious and closed, a little austere, when the wine is usually more exuberant and open; I still have memories of the first vintage, the 1996, which was a very surprising and groundbreaking wine. They talk about the heat wave at the end of August, which killed the red fruit and changed the profile of the wine toward more seriousness, more black fruit and perhaps a wine for the long haul. It has the customary 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.76 and 5.91 grams of acidity, and it has more body than the 2022 and also abundant tannins. It is also a little marked by the élevage, with some spice, toast and smoky notes that will require some more time in bottle. 40,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2025.