Winemaker Notes
Deep red in color with a violet rim, the bouquet of this stellar single-vineyard wine is dominated by notes of fresh raspberries, sweet spice and toasted oak. Smooth and voluminous on the palate with a tannin structure that is both silky and intense, the 2019 Mingortiz is ready to drink now and will also age gracefully for another 25 years.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The single-vineyard 2019 Mingortiz was produced with Tempranillo that was planted in 1964 with a south-facing exposition at 515 meters in altitude. The uncrushed grapes fermented in oak vats with wild yeasts and 20 days of maceration. It matured in new French oak barrels for 16 months, during which time it was racked every six months. It's perfumed, a bit heady—with 14.5% alcohol on the label—and aromatic with notes of peach and raspberry, spicy and toasty. It's balanced and soft and has integrated acidity. This is an approachable and tender vintage with round tannins.
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Wine & Spirits
The Mingortiz vineyard in Briones was planted in 1964, its potently concentrated fruit taken to greater intensity by a six-day cold soak before fermentation in oak vats. For now, it’s black in its tannins, waiting to open up, and only hinting at herbal layers to the fruit—cilantro and green tomatillo adding an edge that will eventually be a fine match for grilled Mexican beef, served with salsa verde and jalapeño.
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.