Winemaker Notes
Clean, bright. Ruby color developing to maroon. On the nose is complex and elegant, wide fruity and spicy notes. On the mouth, elegant, with pleasant hints due to the barrel ageing. Long and silky finish.
This wine matches with any kind of meat and mushrooms rice. Some tasty or oily fish such as tuna or cod. Medium-aged cheese such as emmental or gruyere
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A juicy and chewy red with dried berry and cherry character. Hints of roasted seaweed. Medium to full body. Flavorful finish. Still vivid and balanced. Drink now but has a long life ahead, too.
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Wine Enthusiast
Reedy red-fruit aromas feature a note of green. This is tannic in feel, with a mix of red-leaning raspberry, currant and strawberry flavors. Tea, herb and other grassy notes make for a dry finish. Overall this is excellent, although it does have an herbal character. Drink through 2028.
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Wine Spectator
One of the most recognizable bottles of Rioja is the 2004 Faustino I Gran Reserva, mostly Tempranillo with 9% Graciano 9% and 5% Mazuelo (Cariñena), aged for 26 months in oak barrels. The nose is as classical as it gets, with tertiary aromas of bonfire, paprika, cured meat, leather and spices, highly recognizable as Rioja, clean and balanced, a big improvement over the 2001 I tasted last time. The palate is medium-bodied and polished with a fine texture, good acidity and persistence. This is subtle, with well-integrated oak. It is a textbook Rioja Gran Reserva. Half a million bottles of this wine are produced, and I'm sure there is more than one lot, but it's remarkable that they can make that quantity of a Gran Reserva.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2004 Faustino I Gran Reserva is bright and lively on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of red fruit with a hint of chalk. Pair it with lamb tacos. (Tasted: October 25, 2022, 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.