Bodegas de la Real Divisa Marques de Legarda Crianza 2016
Winemaker Notes
Bodegas de la Real Divisa has a wing dedicated to alcoholic fermentation, that contains 9 stainless-sleet deposits with a storing capacity of 12,200 kilograms of grapes and temperature control and an alternative wing of 14 cement deposits that have been relined with epoxy resin, each with a different maximum capacity in order to create different blends and complete the malolactic fermentation process. For barrel aging there are two sections, one is situated in a 15th century building and contains 50 barrels, each of fine-grain, French oak, used to age highly expressive wines such as Draco and the family Reserva. The aging wing is located in the building adjacent to the winery. It is a section dedicated exclusively to the aging of wine in barrel and bottle. It contains 980 barrels in three-barrel high stacks, placed on racks. This wing is located below ground level to generate optimum characteristics for the aging process of wine with regard to humidity and temperature. To finalize the elaboration process, the now bottled wine rests in a part of the winery from the 14th century, here the temperature and the stillness are suitable for those wines that require more time in bottle to complete their elaboration. Wines that evolve more rapidly, such as the Crianza, are placed in large crates, ready to be ticketed and sold. Bodegas de la Real Divisa remain true to the traditional elaboration method, with meticulous monitoring of production, beginning with the grape selection
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.