Winemaker Notes
Shiny ruby color. Rich aromatic intensity with a nice balance of red fruit, licorice and spices and smoked hints in the background. Elegant and round in the palate with a long after state that brings back floral and fruity memories.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dark cherries, raspberries, lemons and orange peel spring out of the glass here, making for a fresh and enticing impression. Tight-grained and sleek on the medium-to full-bodied palate, which packs in just the right amount of acidity. Driven and focused on the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Ripe and undeniably sexy, the 2015 Izadi Reserva (100% Tempranillo) boasts a deep purple/ruby color as well as complex notes of blueberries, vanilla, scorched earth, and earthy, herbal undertones. Rounded, layered, and concentrated on the palate, it has terrific purity, no hard edges, and loads of character, and it sells for a song. Drink it any time over the coming 7-8 years.
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.