The 2007 Alabaster came from pre-phylloxera vines yielding a miniscule half ton of fruit per acre. It went through ML in new French oak before being transferred to a different set of new French oak barrels for 18 months of aging. Glycerin oozes down the glass of this remarkably rich effort. Purple/black colored, it offers up a brooding nose of licorice, fresh tar, black cherry, and blackberry. On the palate it is full-bodied, dense, and chewy, but in balance. This behemoth demands 8-10 years of cellaring but should ultimately reward patient cellaring in a big way. Bodegas Teso La Monja is the Eguren familys new project in Toro featuring a state of the art winery and old vines of Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo). The sandy soils here meant that phylloxera never took hold so that most of the vines are ungrafted.