Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Deep, lurid ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet displays an array of black and blue fruit, floral and spice qualities, along with suggestions of cola, vanilla and incense. Stains the palate with deeply concentrated blueberry, cherry cola and mocha flavors, and a floral pastille nuance emerges with air. Distinctly rich and fleshy, with harmonious tannins making a late appearance on a very long, smooth finish that echoes the dark fruit and vanilla notes. This is a decidedly modern Rioja, and while it shows strong oak character right now, there seems to be more than enough fruit to absorb it, given some patience.
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.