Winemaker Notes
Intense, bright cherry red with garnet tinges. Complex, with an elegant symphony of black fruits and forest fruits wrapped up with aromas of vanilla and spices. Full bodied with silky tannins and a very persistent and pleasant finish.
Matches perfectly with traditional cuisine like vegetables, grilled meats and cured cheeses.
*The label for Bodegas Lan Rioja Reserva is in the process of changing. You may receive either of these two labels featured above. Specific labels cannot be requested.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A fresh nose with good depth and complexity. Spiced cherries, berries, dark chocolate and touches of wet earth and mushrooms. Medium-bodied and succulent on the palate, with lots of juicy fruit and a very long, fine-grained finish. Not the most concentrated expression of Rioja, but this shows the elegance, crunch and freshness of 2018. Delicious now, but can hold well.
-
Vinous
The 2018 Reserva is 92% Tempranillo, 4% Mazuelo and 4% Garnacha, sourced from Rioja Alta and Alavesa. Aged for 22 months in French and American oak barrels, this garnet-hued wine presents blackberry and wild herb notes, complemented by hints of coconut, cedar and vanilla. It is dry, juicy and plush, featuring fine tannins. The palate lingers with a whiff of menthol cough drop. This wine showcases a modern Rioja style with a commercial profile.
-
Wine Spectator
Lively and balanced, offering layers of chopped black cherry, blood orange peel, licorice, medicinal herb and mineral flavors, with light, creamy tannins. Tempranillo, Mazuelo and Graciano. Drink now. 65,000 cases made, 10,000 cases imported.
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.