Bodegas Benjamin Rothschild & Vega Sicilia - 2018 - Macan - 750 ml.

The 2018 Macán has moderate alcohol (14%) and more freshness (pH 3.69), reflecting a cooler and rainier year that forced them to fine-tune the sorting and selection of the grapes, which fermented with selected yeasts. The élevage was in barrel (55%) and larger foudres for 16 months. 2018 was quite different from 2019, as it was cooler and rainier. The wine is serious and harmonious, which was a challenge, and winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga told me that they had to be very careful and sort and select the grapes. It's textured and elegant, a style that follows the path of the 2016; it's elegant but with depth, managing the élevage in foudre better, which was a learning process they started in 2016.

James Suckling: 95

A beautiful, complex nose with creamy spices, cedar, fresh blackberries, red plums, truffles and hints of walnuts and mocha. Medium to full body with multidimensional tannins that are tight as a rock, coating the palate in a linear way, penetrating from the entry to the end with a final thud. Give it three or years to come around. Drink from 2025.