Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Spectacular is the limited production 1996 Vina El Pison. Fashioned from a vineyard planted in 1931 on pure limestone, this wine is outrageously rich, complex, and profound. A dense ruby/purple color is followed by aromas of sweet black fruits, vanillin, flowers, and minerals. There are layers of fruit, great flavor extraction, unbelievable finesse, complexity, and elegance. The finish lasts for nearly a minute. Full-bodied and super-concentrated, this compelling Rioja will be at its peak between 2002-2025. Sadly, only 300 six packs were exported to the United States, but it is well-worth seeking out.
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.