Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This harmonious red delivers black cherry, mineral, licorice and orange peel flavors, supported by well-integrated tannins and firm acidity. A bit reserved now, but balanced with good depth. Drink now through 2020.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
An impressive Rioja, the 2008 Ramírez de la Piscina presents a case of elegance and balance; refined and ready for the dinner table. Deep dark ruby color; bold and ripe in the aroma, fine richness; medium to full bodied, textured; black fruit and oak in the flavors; medium finish. (Tasted: November 6, 2015, 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.