La Rioja Alta Vina Arana Rioja Gran Reserva 2012
- Decanter
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Dark-cherry red with a garnet-red rim. High aromatic intensity, with outstanding notes of ripe red fruit, red berries, wild strawberries, and plum jam, leading to tertiary aromas from meticulous aging in oak: vanilla, cedar, tobacco, coffee, caramel, and sweet patisserie notes. In the mouth, its initial freshness and structure, typical of this brand, predominate. Balanced, with soft, flavorsome tannins. Elegant, complex finish, where the ripe red fruit and balsamic notes provide a splendid end
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
Classic nose with savoury character over a sweet spices background with elegant cigar box notes. Quite mouth watering with a full body and chewy mid-palate.
-
James Suckling
Brambleberries, licorice, dried blueberries, cedar, tobacco, smoke, vanilla, dried citrus and even a hint of grapefruit. The lazer-sharp acidity evinces a real sense of purity, and the tannins are really edgy and structured. Full-bodied but very elegant and stylish. The finish goes on and on, thanks to the shimmering acidity. Beautiful now, but better in 2024.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Dry oak aromas are the greeting, and this smells earthy and cheesy in a classical way; along with that, this offers ripe scents of raisiny berry fruits and vanilla. A full palate is rich while holding on to its balance. Flavors of balsamic plum, berry fruits and tobacco finish bold more than fine and elegant. Drink through 2032.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2012 La Rioja Alta Viña Arana Gran Reserva is sophisticated and attractive, with plenty of fruit coming through to its finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of blueberries, dried earth, and wood. Enjoy with grilled baby back ribs. (Tasted: June 2, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2012 was an unusual vintage in Rioja, as it was warm and dry, but the wines are fresher than those from 2011. Th 2012 Viña Arana shows that character, as it's ripe and has concentration but is quite balanced. There are some creamy notes and plenty of underbrush, wet forest floor, spice and smoke, very recognizable as Rioja. It's clean, aromatic and open. Very pleasant and approachable, with enough grip to stand up to most foods. This is already a Gran Reserva. 80,000 bottles produced from 267 barriques, where the wine matured for three years.
Other Vintages
2015-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
-
James
Suckling - Decanter
-
Robert
Parker
Always evolving quality, elegance, innovation, evolution... They are the pillars on which the five founding families erected our winery in 1890 and built a way of living, feeling and producing wines of the highest quality that continue to evolve subtly, perfectly adapting to new tastes. This is how the permanent pursuit of excellence started; a pursuit that continues into the 21st century with identical enthusiasm. We draw the best from our winemaking tradition and wisdom —our own cooperage, manual racking, long ageing periods, etc.— and combine it with the most modern winemaking technology. Today, our wines are an international exemplar of the great wines of Rioja and our brands are present in the best restaurants across all continents.
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.