Winemaker Notes
Located in Rioja Alavesa, where Tempranillo thrives in a microclimate strongly influenced both by the elevation and the proximity of the Atlantic ocean, Bodegas Izadi specializes in red wines make almost exclusively from Rioja’s signature grape variety. Izadi Reserva is made from 100% Tempranillo grown in limestone rich soils and aged in American and French oak.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Sweet berries and walnuts with dried flowers and blueberries on the nose. Full-bodied with very tight, refined tannins that are focused and impressive. I like the texture and definition to the wine, as well as the complex aftertaste. Serious wine that’s nice to drink now, but with three to four years of age, this will be very special. Try after 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In the 2016 Reserva, I found very good freshness and balance and notes of red fruit that always point at more contained ripeness, and it also has a completely different oak profile, a lot subtler and more integrated than in previous vintages. This is a clean and aromatic modern Reserva with some fine tannins to be resolved by some more time in the bottle and/or with hearty food. It's a blend of 89% Tempranillo and 11% Graciano matured in barrel for 15 months
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.