Gómez Cruzado Honorable 2017

Nicely made, with well defined blackcurrant fruit and evidence of deft use of oak. A bit high in alcohol, but with good freshness and a savoury edge. Open finish, a bit linear. A particular style, probably reflecting a single vineyard. Drinking Window 2022-2027.

The 2017 Honorable is a blend of 80% Tempranillo, 15% Graciano and 5% other grapes from four head-pruned old plots in the villages of Lanciego, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Samaniego and Labastida. It's their most classical bottling, recovering a wine they produced since 1915. It's very ripe and shows aromas of crème de cassis and herbs, and it's a bit heady at 15% alcohol and with abundant, slightly dusty tannins after 18 months in barrels, mostly French and only 20% of them American. 2017 was a challenging vintage, and the wine shows it. 19,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2021. - Luis Gutiérrez. 

Honorable dates back to 1914 as a brand, but has never been as impressive as it is now. Blending Tempranillo with 5% Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo and Viura, all from old vines on chalky soils in the Sonsierra zone, this is a wonderfully polished red, with subtle reduction, fine tannins and liquorice and blackberry fruit. 2024-3