Winemaker Notes
Bright, ripe cherry red. Intense and complex in aromas. Aromas of ripe red fruit, enveloped in white flowers, almond blossom and broom. Touches of cinnamon and resinous notes. Velvety on the attack, smooth and delicate. It is elegant, balanced and harmonious on the palate. A long finish, leaving a pleasant aftertaste that encourages you to take another sip.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackberries, blueberries, dried flowers, bay leaves, iodine and cigar box. Medium-to full-bodied with fine tannins and fresh acidity. Spicy and vibrant with a velvety texture and a flavorful, polished finish.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2016 LAN Reserva is elevated and layered on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine excels with aromas and flavors of oaky notes, black fruits, earth, and berries. Enjoy it with carnitas burritos. (Tasted: July 23, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Harmonious and juicy, laced with delicate cherry and plum fruit flavors. Bright but also round, showing elements of spice and cedar that creep in as this plays out on the succulent finish. Tempranillo and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2030.
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.