Valenciso Reserva 2008
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine is, year in, year out, among the best in its category. I'm talking about the red 2008 Valenciso Reserva, an explosive, aromatic, perfumed Tempranillo that mixes the more common strawberries, raspberries and cherries with more unusual violets and subtle spices with plenty of nuances and changing details, elegant and complex, starting to develop some tertiary characteristics. Perhaps some aromas are derived from the fact that the uncrushed grapes fermented in cement vats, a process that can sometimes can provoke intense aromatics. Also, the malolactic was very slow and did not finish until the spring/summer. The palate is lush, full and round, with sophisticated glossy tannins and good acidity. Add to this the effect of the 17 months in French oak that brought some spicy flavors, but that did not dry the wine at all. A beauty. At this price point, it is quite good value. 95,000 bottles.
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Wine Spectator
Brilliant ruby. Sexy, high-pitched red and dark berry scents are complemented by vanilla, cola and pipe tobacco. Sweet, palate-staining blackberry and cherry flavors are given definition and spine by juicy acidity. Supple tannins add shape to the wine's intense, sappy fruit on the long finish.
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Valenciso's objective is to produce a single wine of the highest quality and authenticity, released as Reserva. Only the best Tempranillo grapes are used, from mature, low-yielding vineyards. Of the available fruit from the grower-partners, only a small percentage is selected. Careful harvesting is timed to capture the intensity of the fruit, while avoiding overripeness or excessive alcohol levels. Aromatic volume rather than physical weight-in the manner of French Burgundy and the greatest Riojas of the past-is the Valenciso ideal.
Aging takes place in the finest cork-grade ('flor') French oak barriques, one-third replaced each year. Time in oak is dependent upon vintage characteristics, and is determined upon exhaustive tasting.
Production of 30,000 to 40,000 bottles in 1998 and 1999 has risen to over 60,000 bottles for the excellent 2000 vintage. Maximum eventual production in the new Ollauri facility will be capped at 120,000 bottles.
Valenciso's impeccable sense of proportion demonstrates rare winemaking maturity. Perfect balance offers early accessibility, while the evident structure, fresh acidity and fruit intensity promise many years of positive bottle evolution.
Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.
Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.