91+ Luis Gutierrez - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

I found the 2017 País en Tinaja quite closed, and it needed time in the glass to open up. It finally started showing some aromatic herbs, eucalyptus, some spices, cola nut and nutmeg. They had to do a severe selection of the grapes to avoid the notes of the smoke; they produced less this year—some 4,000 bottles—and didn't bottle some of their other wines. This is produced in ancient terracotta amphorae but doesn't have any of that earthiness; I find that used amphorae tend to be more neutral than the newer ones. It has fine-grained tannins and a finish lifted by some faint volatility. They have been bottling País for 11 years now—they were one of the pioneers.