Winemaker Notes
Deep garnet red with bright highlights. On the nose, ripe fruit with spicy notes of black peppers and chocolate. Balanced, powerful and flavorful. Blackberry and redcurrant notes, in harmony with vanilla and caramel.
Try pairing with red meat, grilled and smoked fish, and soft cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A juicy, well-made Rioja. I like the depth on the nose, with dark cherries and spiced black plums. Succulent and medium-bodied on the palate, with fine, svelte tannins and a linear but structured finish. This extends well at the end.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The Bodegas Lan 2020 xTreme Ecologico Crianza shows excellent style and balance. This wine excels with aromas and flavors of aromatic spices, garden herbs, and tart berry nuances. Try it with a fragrant lamb stew. (Tasted: February 21, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
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.