Winemaker Notes
Blend: 94% Tempranillo, 3% Garnacha, 2% Viura, 1% Graciano
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I saw better balance and integration of the oak in the 2012 Finca la Emperatriz Reserva, a wine that I often cite as an example of what a textbook Rioja Reserva should be--combining characteristics from traditional and modern styles. The blend of 94% Tempranillo, 3% Garnacha, 2% Viura and 1% Graciano fermented in open top stainless steel with indigenous yeasts after a four day cold soak, and matured in oak barrels (mostly American, 70%) for 23 months. There is a core of bright red fruit with a nice dose of sweet spices in a subtle combination. The palate is polished and nicely balanced, with clean flavors and enough acidity and freshness. Very pleasant.
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Wine & Spirits
This is a 250-acre estate in the Rioja Alta hills above Haro, the altitude reaching 1,870 feet. The blend is based on tempranillo off 60-year-old bush vines (94 percent) with garnacha, viura and graciano. Cold soaked for three days before fermentation, it ages in a mix of American and French oak barrels. It’s full and rich, with saturated flavors of black cherry and pomegranate, the oak bringing some mocha tones and spice that need plenty of air to integrate.
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.