Cortijo Tinto 2019
- Vinous
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Winemaker Notes
A pure, bright expression of estate fruit from one of the most authentic and humble local wineries in Rioja Alta. The emphasis is entirely on showcasing the unmistakable wild red berry flavors that define a good Rioja and avoiding the heavy-handed traditional oak elements that hide them.
The fresh, pure character of this wine makes this an extremely versatile wine to pair with food. This wine pairs well with white meats like pork and chicken and flaky fish like hake, cod or flounder. This has the fruit and acidity to match with red meats, as well.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Bright violet. Dried cherry, red currant and tobacco aromas are lifted by a peppery flourish. Juicy and focused on the palate, offering bitter cherry and floral pastille flavors that turn sweeter with aeration. Gently chewy tannins frame a long, spicy finish that leaves a floral note behind.
Other Vintages
2020-
Wine
Enthusiast
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Wilfred
Wong
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James
Suckling
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Robert
Parker
Cortijo Tinto is a bright, fresh red wine produced by David Sampedro in the Rioja DOCa. Rioja is Spain’s most prestigious region and for younger or neophyte wine drinkers who want to learn more about this magical, storybook wine region, its grapes and its wines, there’s no better an introduction than Cortijo Tinto. Cortijo means ‘cottage’ or ‘shack,’ a reference by the emerging young winemaker David Sampedro that his shack makes better wine than most high-flown Chateaux in Rioja. David improves the quality of his wines by doing better work in his vineyards, the place where the grapes come from. David says, "If you want to make better wine, harvest better grapes." Rather than build a chateau or a beautiful tasting room, he’d rather pay to take care of the only meaningful ingredient, the grapes. Beginning with the 2009 vintage, Cortijo is made with estate grapes. The goal is to show a naked, unadorned expression of Tempranillo and Garnacha from Rioja Alta with no interference of oak. Cortijo is a sort of “non-profit organization” for David as opposed to most of his other wines, which are super-premium cuvées that collectors kill for. Cortijo is David's way of introducing people to great wine from Rioja at a value price.
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.