Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Rich yet polished, this focused red shows concentration and balance, with cassis, blackberry, cocoa, licorice and mineral flavors that stay firm and fresh through the spicy finish. Tempranillo. Drink now through 2025.
-
Wine Enthusiast
This modern, lush Tempranillo is roasted and heavy up front, with blackberry, blueberry, earth and leather aromas. It’s plump, chewy and ripe on the palate, with baked, earthy flavors of blackberry, cassis, mocha and moss. This is soft on the finish, with little to no tannic bite or aggression.
-
Wine & Spirits
With a gentle scent of meat and spices, but with a strong presence of fruit flavor and tannic energy that only old vines can give, this is a potent tempranillo for a steakhouse. Folio Fine Wine Partners, Napa, 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.