A solid core of fruit and mineral, bark and coffee bean aromas and flavors. Full body, chewy tannins and a fresh finish. Drink now.

A nose dominated by smoky bacon and sweet spice notes over a core of ripe fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with some grainy tannins and roasted flavors.

This exemplary old-vines wine delivers ripe blackberry, leather and herb aromas along with hints of toast, minerals and lemon peel. The palate is sinewy and powerfully built. Flavors of loamy berry, toasty oak, licorice and lemon zest end with a blackened overriding flavor and length. Drink now through 2021.

The plush texture delivers rich flavors of plum, blackberry and boysenberry, with accents of coffee, mountain herb, cedar and mineral. Fine-grained tannins give this structure, showing enough acidity to stay fresh. A modern-style red. Drink now through 2025.

#30 of Top 100 of 2015

The 2010 Cepas Viejas is produced from 60-year-old Mencia grapes. It has a note of very ripe black fruits, some cinnamon and clove and a palate where the oak shows good integration with the fruit. The 2001 version of this wine was a benchmark for any new Bierzo red. 180,000 bottles produced. Drink 2013-2017.

Aromatics abound with cedar, mint and spices. Meaty, earthy, sensual and unique. Great intensity of fruit on the palate with finely grained tannins and a complex fruit expression of great originality, crying out what is a unique Terroir.

Mature and smooth up front, this is showing rooty, earthy, black-fruit aromas that are loamy. A shot of lively acidity creates good flow, while flavors of baked, toasty berry fruits suggest espresso and bitter chocolate. A crisp, peppery finish is smoky and long. Drink through 2019.

The blackberry and dark chocolate flavors are rich and deep in this think red, with chewy tannins balanced by sweet-tart acidity. Straightforward yet deep. Drink now through 2020.

Deep ruby. Spicy, fragrant aromas of red- and blackcurrant, violet and minerals, with subtle vanilla and cracked pepper nuances emerging with air. Fleshy and expansive, with good energy to its bitter cherry and black raspberry flavors. Notes of licorice and candied flowers carry through a long, pliant and gently tannic finish. This wine is drinking well now.

The purity of this mencia’s fruit leaves a fresh impression, like juicy blackberries off the vine. Oak plays a central role in the wine’s structure, but the fruit prevails, ripe and voluptuous.

From vineyards closing in on 70 years old, Exaltos is one of the best examples of a forceful Bierzo, hard in slate tannins, rich in ripe black fruit. Give it several hours in a decanter and, as the tannins begin to soften, it shoes more than simple ripeness: hints of pepper, tart cherries and soft touches of violet give it an unsuspecting grace. Built to cellar five years or more.

The 2007 Exaltos was sourced from 65-year-old Mencia vines and aged in seasoned French oak for 9 months. Opaque purple in color, it displays an inviting nose of cedar, minerals, violets, black cherry, and black raspberry. Layered, dense, and full-flavored on the palate, this lengthy effort will reward 1-2 years of cellaring and offer optimum drinking from 2013 to 2019. The latest releases from Dominio de Tares are uniformly outstanding.  -J. Miller, June 2011

Deep, dark and oaky smelling, with tons of mocha on top of ripe black fruit aromas. There’s both heft and elegance to this wine, that and coffee, spice and exotic black fruit flavors. Finishes toasty and spicy, with a rich, chunky, structured feel. Impressive; drink now through 2013.

Bright ruby. Pungent dark fruit and herb aromas are complemented by licorice, black cardamom and cola. Sweet and pliant but with good energy and spicy lift to its blackberry and cherry-cola flavors. A touch of anise lingers on the lightly tannic, sappy, long finish. This will be even better with a few more years of bottle age.

Chunky and rubbery smelling at first, then out comes black fruit, oak and licorice in spades. This is a modern, dark wine from old Mencia vines that’s very tasty and rolls across the palate with ease. It’s a little syrupy and very ripe, with hints of herbs on the finish as well as cocoa and fig. Drink now through 2013.

The 2005 Exaltos Cepas Viejas is made from 100% Mencia. It offers up a complex perfume of cinnamon, mineral, iodine, saline, leather, and plum. It sounds like an odd concoction but it works. This is followed by a smooth-textured, savory, ripe wine with excellent depth, balance, and length. Drink it over the next five years.