Winemaker Notes
The Rioja flagship Altos de Lanzaga comes from one of the most exceptional vineyards in Lanciego. The goal is to vindicate the subtlety that a great Rioja must possess.
The fruit comes from about 10 biodynamically farmed acres of Tempranillo vineyards more than 70 years old. The wine is crushed and extracted in order to protect wine's finesse. Fermentation is done in large, open wooden vats, and aging is in a combination of large oak casks and smaller barriques for 18 months, with each cask studied individually and dried for a lengthy period corresponding to its specific characteristics.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Altos de Lanzaga has a spellbinding, pure bouquet of red currant, wild strawberry and thyme that is imbued with immense purity and delineation. The palate has a satin-like texture with superb acidity and filigree tannins that lend it a Burgundian, Romanee-St.-Vivant inspired finish. This is an exquisite follow-up to the brilliant 2006. Drink 2015-2025+
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.