2015 Bodegas Casa Primicia Pensante Special Edition Rioja 750 ml

The 2015 Pensante is a BIG Rioja—one that has more in common with a broad-shouldered Napa Cabernet or opulent Pomerol, thanks to the richness and concentration achieved in dry-farmed Tempranillo from vines boasting 100 to 150 years of age!

Made from 100% estate fruit in the foothills of the Cantabria Mountains, this wine is practically picked grape by grape: Casa Primicia’s harvesters hunted across roughly 200 acres of vineyards in search of its oldest, best, most expressive Tempranillo. The resulting boggling is so powerful that Primicia waited seven years to release it.  

You’ll notice that there is no Crianza, Reserva, or Gran Reserva tag appended to the Pensante’s name. That’s because Casa Primicia is part of a new wave of winemakers and estates in Rioja experimenting with expressions that go beyond the bounds of the appellation’s classification system.

For this bottling, enologist Fernando Domingo wanted to celebrate the estate’s ancient-vine plots, capturing the character of the Laguardia Vineyard’s terroir in Rioja Alavesa while adding further layers of complexity through a multitiered barreling regime.

The wine ferments in 400-liter barrels over 10 days, then undergoes malolactic fermentation in much smaller French oak barrels. Afterwards, it matures in a 2,200-liter French oak vat in Casa Primicia’s cellars.

This treatment lends the wine polish and delicate vanilla and cinnamon notes, while never allowing the oak influence to overshadow the spiced, chocolaty, luxurious fruit core, richly appointed with emerging tertiary flavors of dried figs, a hint of cigar box, and truffle.

This is not like any Rioja you’ve had before. The star bottle of the vintage, available at a value far below the market price, it’s a bombshell acquisition.