Bodegas Bilbainas ZACO 100% Tempranillo (Rioja) 2007 (Might contain a fault) read on --

Appearance: Deep, almost opaque, pleasant "dusty" garnet core moving to a medium(-) dark pink rim. There was no indication of sediment or floating particles. (2nd bottle the same - see below)

Aroma: Medium(++) intensity of earthy, "dusty", and chocolate aromas with a hint of barnyard. Due to the barnyard aroma (could be "Brett"???).

Setting the glass aside for about 15 minutes, I smelled the wine a second time and the barnyard aroma seemed to disappear replaced by a "dusty" black-cherry aroma with a hint of black licorice spice.

To re-assess the aroma, I rinsed and cleaned my glass and did another pour and the barnyard aroma was present. The barnyard aroma reminded me of a horse barn or next to horses and horse saddles. (I evaluated a second bottle and the result was the same.)

Palate: The wine is dry, medium(+) body with medium(+) soft tannins and a medium(+) level of acidity. The fruit character was of a weak intensity of undefined (red, fruit?). There was an intense alcohol burn immediately upon initial entry into the mouth (14%). The second sip only gave an alcohol burn on the back palate. The barnyard, horse characteristic was more pronounced on the palate for both bottles sampled.

Finish/Length: The finish was not clean. The length was long with pronounced barnyard/horse flavors lingering.

Conclusion: Both bottles sampled with the same characteristics. The barnyard aroma, the weak intensity of the fruit and baryardyard on the palate combined with alcohol burn made this very uncomfortable to drink. The retail price is about US$16.00.

Did immediate research: I believe the wine is suffering from contamination by Brettanomyces, specifically either 4-ethyl phenol(4-ep) which imparts a horse stable, sweaty saddle aroma or isovaleric acid which has an unpleasant smell of sweaty animals. Brett could also smell of wet dog and others. This may have occurred in the oak barrels during the winemaking process). My research seems to point to the reality that "Brett" is not completely a bad quality. It is a matter of degree.

Producers Notes: The color is an intense, bright cherry with violet hues. The nose has an initial dominant notes of black fruits, violets and licorice followed by the underlying spicy notes of barrel ageing - vanilla and clove. The palate is full-bodied with a long, fresh finish.