Breton Lorinon Crianza Rioja 2003
Winemaker Notes
The Breton partnership includes a 100-acre estate called Vina Lorinon just outside of Lorgrono along the south bank of the Ebro River, with 45 acres of mature vines. Breton properties also include the fabulous Dominio de Conte, a textbook 55acre vineyard on a protected horseshoe bend of the Ebro near Briones, in the very heart of Rioja Alta. Overall average vineyard age is 27 years - the highest of any major Rioja producer - grape varieties consisting mainly of Tempranillo, with Mazuelo, Graciano, Garnacha, Viura, and Malvasia. The Logrono and Briones vineyards together provide an ideal balance of ripe fruit and acidity.
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.