Winemaker Notes
This Gran Reserva is a bright cherry and garnet red with brick hues. Black fruit, licorice and violet notes, so typical of Tempranillo, amalgamate with the spicy, mineral aromas of Graciano. During bottle aging, all of this is assembled with
toasty and balsamic aromas (vanilla, pepper, tobacco) contributed by the
barrels. As the wine is aired in the glass, it discloses its full range of nuances and complex aromas. In the mouth, it reflects its surroundings, with a mild entry and a sense of elegance and balance, ending in long persistence, denoting the craft of barrel aging and the assemblage provided by a long stay in the bottle.
The perfect complement to dishes containing vegetables or casseroles with legumes. It is also excellent with meat or vegetable rice dishes, moderately strong cheeses, duck and blue fish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of cherries, toasted vanilla pod, tar and tile follow through to a full, compact and tight body of fruit with fine, linear tannins that are long and persistent. Finely crafted Rioja.
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.