Winemaker Notes
Hundred-year-old Garnacha vineyard native to the upper Najerilla area, cultivated in clay-ferrous soil that confers the land its reddish hue.
Cuentaviñas CDVIN Garnacha represents the most Atlantic interpretation of one of the areas with the highest concentration of centenary Grenache, established at the foot of the Sierrade la Demanda in which these Ferrous Clay soils balance the vegetative cycle of the plant and show that purity of fresh and meaty fruit.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
All Garnacha that was raised in 500-liter French puncheons, the 2021 Garnacha CDVIN has a ripe, up-front bouquet of red and black cherries, spring flowers, cedary oak, violets, and pepper. This carries to a pure, medium to full-bodied, balanced, and elegant red that has fine, polished tannins and a great finish. I love it today, yet it should evolve nicely over the coming decade or so.
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James Suckling
amarind, blood oranges, cloves, white pepper and preserved plums on the nose. Compact and beguilingly fleshy in the middle with chalky tannins and quite an ethereal, stony, effortless finish. From approximately 120-year-old vines around Cordovin and Badaran.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Garnacha CDVIN is lighter and more floral than the rest of the range, with neatly integrated oak and a vibrant palate with a fine thread of acidity going through its core. It's ripe at 14.5% alcohol, but you don't feel it, and the wine comes through as balanced and fresh. It matured in 500-liter barrels for 14 months.
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Wine Spectator
There's a crisp feel to the fine tannins structuring this appealing red, layered with a light fleshiness on the palate that carries flavors of black raspberry paste, spiced orange, mountain herbs and white pepper. A streak of stone-tinged minerality lingers on the finish. Drink now through 2036. 665 cases made, 120 cases imported.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Highly regarded for distinctive and age-worthy red wines, Rioja is Spain’s most celebrated wine region. Made up of three different sub-regions of varying elevation: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. Wines are typically a blend of fruit from all three, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta, at the highest elevation, is 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 and higher alcohol, which can add great body and richness to a blend.
Fresh and fruity Rioja wines labeled, Joven, (meaning young) see minimal aging before release, but more serious Rioja wines undergo multiple years in oak. Crianza and Reserva styles are aged for one year in oak, and Gran Reserva at least two, but in practice this maturation period is often quite a bit longer—up to about fifteen years.
Tempranillo provides the backbone of Rioja red wines, adding complex notes of red and black fruit, leather, toast and tobacco, while Garnacha supplies body. In smaller percentages, Graciano and Mazuelo (Carignan) often serve as “seasoning” with additional flavors and aromas. These same varieties are responsible for flavorful dry rosés.
White wines, typically balancing freshness with complexity, are made mostly from crisp, fresh Viura. Some whites are blends of Viura with aromatic Malvasia, and then barrel fermented and aged to make a more ample, richer style of white.