Termanthia

The 2005 Termanthia received the “200% new oak treatment” where it remained for 20 months. Opaque purple, the wine offers up plenty of toast, scorched earth, truffle, mineral, and assorted black fruits. Tightly wound and very backward, this powerful effort appears to be balanced but will need a decade of cellaring to become approachable. Not as much of a gamble as the Numanthia, it will require much patience by those who purchase it.

Saturated ruby. Explosively perfumed scents of blackberry, blueberry and dark cherry, complicated by a seductive array of Asian spices, vanilla, mocha and fresh flowers. Palate-saturating dark berry flavors are almost shockingly elegant, with balancing minerality adding focus and lift. Fine-grained tannins make an attempt to assert themselves but are utterly absorbed by the sweet, dark fruit. Finishes with sweet, focused blackcurrant and cherry flavors and remarkable persistence. The balance of this wine is something else.