Sam Harrop came round for tea last night. The objective? To discuss our new joint book venture - a very exciting project - but we drunk some wine, too.

Sam brought round a new high-end Spanish wine called Cenit. It's a 100% Tempranillo from pre-phylloxera ungrafted vines located at Zamora on the bank of the Duero. Amy Hopkinson, a New Zealander who Sam knows, is the winemaker.

Cenit Tinto 2003 Vina de la Tierra Zamora, Spain
This is an ambitious new-wave Spanish wine made from old vine Tempranillo and matured in new oak. It has a forward nose displaying lots of ripe, sweet red berry and cherry fruit with noticeable alcoholic heat. The palate is sweetly fruited with a good concentration of pure, smoothly structured red fruits and well integrated but substantial new oak. It's seductive and quite elegant in that the fruit tends more to the red end of the spectrum than the black, and in this modern, rather international style it's an impressive wine. I reckon it would be better with just a touch less alcohol and oak, though. It might develop well with a few years in bottle, but it's not a long term ager. Good to see ambitious, high quality wines like these being made from lesser-known Spanish regions, though. Available in the USA through Jorge Ordonez selections. Very good/excellent 92/100