Winemaker Notes
Cherry red color with a thin terracotta edge showing its longer barrel age. The wine shows its mature black fruit, toffee and mineral notes. This is a silky wine with harmonious balance of flavors with an elegant and refreshing finish.
Blend:85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo
Perfect for matching any grilled meats, stews or barbecued meats. It also accompanies charcuterie, steaks and even game and stronger cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
This producer is named for Rioja pioneer Carlos Serres, who established one of the region’s first wineries in 1896. His namesake is now a familyowned estate whose vines in coveted Rioja Alta vineyards average 30-plus years of age. Each variety in this blend of 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, and 5% Mazuelo aged separately for 36 months in American and French oak before spending an additional 36 months in bottle. It has a velvet-lined mouthfeel, and its aromas and flavors of chocolate, cherry, and plum are coated in licorice. Sandalwood gives way to savory spice on the finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe plum and berry aromas befit a warm year like 2012, while this gran reserva is a touch wiry and punchy, with zesty acidity. Plum, cherry and oak spice flavors are integrated, while this deals modest heat on the finish; drink through 2025.
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.