Winemaker Notes
Cherry red in color, with a rim still tinged with blue. High robe. A fun, fruity nose with a strong mahogany and mineral note, and a toffee background after aeration. A full-bodied palate, with plenty of life ahead. Ripe fruit and notes of plum and black licorice. Long, elegant aftertaste.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Rich black plums and berries with pepper and wet earth. Fleshy but also textured and tense with medium to full body and fine-grained tannins that grow from the center palate. Good length in the finish. Vegan.
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Wine Spectator
Savory olive, tobacco and mineral notes meet a core of black cherry, blackberry and vanilla in this creamy red. The tang of blood orange peel–infused acidity and supple tannins focus this through the silky, spiced finish. Tempranillo and Graciano. 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.