Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A deep yet precise nose that is still a little closed now, showing blackberries, dark plums, minerals, fine spices and a hint of coffee. It will need some time to open up, but you definitely see the potential here. The tight tannins on the palate confirm this, together with juicy black and blue fruit. Tense and compact, with a refined, lengthy finish. Bravo!
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Wine Spectator
A bright and lively red, displaying dark and juicy flavors of blackberry, pomegranate puree, dried thyme, smoke and star anise. Chalky tannins firm the clean-cut, fragrant finish. Best after 2024.
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.