Let's raise a glass with Taron
It was a double awards win for Jesus Ruiz, President of Bodegas Taron, Laura Manzanos, Winemaker and Gonzalo Salazar de Gurendes at last night’s International Wine Competition gala dinner at The Grosvenor Hotel in London. These two prestigious awards are added to their recent Gold Medal award in the Sommelier Wine Awards in May this year.
Pantocrator 2005 is a numbered limited edition of 11.957 bottles, a Rioja Reserva that will be only released in exceptional vintages.
The 2005 vintage was considered ‘excellent’ by the Regulatory Council of DOCa Rioja and considered also by some in the region (and at the winery) as the best vintage of Rioja in this century, only matched with the acclaimed 2001 vintage.
A blend of Tempranillo and Mazuelo, the wines are matured in American oak separately and then blended before a further 6 months in oak an finally 6 months in stainless steel vats.
The name of the wine, Pantocrator, was chosen because the great significance of Romanesque Art in their area and is a Romanesque Art depiction of Christ in Majesty, surrounded by the evangelists as allegoric zoomorphic figures (angel, lion, bull and eagle). The label of the wine reproduces the hand of Christ blessing with ‘Pantocrator’ a Greek word that means ‘the all-mighty’.
Bodegas Tarón gathers a group of vine grow families in the Northwest extreme of Rioja Alta, around four small villages that started the vine traditions in the XI Century, and took the form of a cooperative in the sixties. Aware of the singularity of the area and the enormous potential of the old vines, twelve years ago they decide to create Bodegas Tarón in order to operate their best 110 hectares of vine with an average age over 50 years (featuring some small plots over one century old). From that moment, and gathering a bigger international recognition, Tarón brings together the care of the vineyard legacy with the respectful interpretation of the winemaking traditions of the area, done by the winemaker Laura Manzanos.
