Winemaker Notes
Deep cherry-red with aromas of macerated fruit, aromatic herbs, bread and figs. Complex palate with flavors of ripe red fruits, raisins, tobacco and licorice. Well balanced with smooth tannins from both the grape and the French oak with excellent weight with a long and smooth finish. it goes with many dishes including grilled vegetables, many types of meat dishes, stews and elaborate dishes. Ideal for chocolate-based desserts.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A red with dried-cherry, berry and chocolate character. Medium body, round tannins and a pleasant finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Loud oak aromas result in whiffs of butter, olive and rubber along with black-fruit scents. An aggressive palate is rubbing and features hard tannins, while this is loaded with oak flavors and berry fruit. Vanilla, clove, wild-herb and wood-grain notes drive a rugged finish. Drink through 2028.
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.