Bodegas Benjamin Rothschild and Vega Sicilia Macan 2010
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Grape Variety: 100% Tempranillo
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In its second vintage, the Grand Vin 2010 Macan has a very Rioja profile, subtle aromas of forest floor, spices, blackberries (in fact a mixture of red and black fruit) and a lactic touch with smoky undertones plus hints of leather and ink. The palate shows good depth and is clean, focused, structured and balanced. Some earthy hints, somehow mineral, show through on this modern Rioja showing classical proportions: a clean, finely crafted Rioja. 53,500 bottles and some larger formats produced.Rating: 93+
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Wine Spectator
This chewy red shows concentration in a savory style. Smoky, tarry and licorice notes shadow a core of plum and tobacco flavors. Dense and rather austere, though floral and vanilla details emerge on the finish. Best from 2016 through 2030.
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Wine & Spirits
This wine’s supple, almost inky richness lies behind pure umami savor, a tight, meaty tempranillo that shows mostly spice, meat and mushroom flavors—mace, grilled setas, dry-aged beef. All the aroma is in the tannins, needing grilled steak or cellar time to release the fruitier side of the wine.
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MACAN is the name chosen for the wines, derived from a traditional name for the people of this sub-region of Rioja. Each year, they aim to produce two wines, MACAN and MACAN CLASICO, "a first and a second wine following the Bordeaux tradition of classification by tasting the different lots and bottling a first wine with more potential and a second wine more expressive and easy to drink when young." This is perhaps the most notable influence of the Rothschild family on the project, because otherwise all viticulture and winemaking is in the hands of the Vega Sicilia team.
The style of the wines is certainly not ‘traditional’ Rioja – after trials, they decided against American oak – but the style is not modern “alto espreccion” either. Perhaps the term Neo-Classical is most apt, with complex mineral-infused fruit and discreet oak influences, underpinned by a fine but firm structure. These are definitely “fine wines” in the grand European tradition, and sure to generate serious media, trade and consumer interest.
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.