Winemaker Notes
Intense purple colour with violet glints. Highly aromatic with black fruit and ripe sloe notes. Intense minerality that, together with the vanilla, spice and tobacco notes from the barrel, give the wine a great character. Oily, rich and intense with a sweetness right across the mouth, showing great finesse. Well-balanced acidity with the alcohol, with the typical “Valpiedra” freshness predominant. A long, cool and mineral finish, with a touch of fine woods.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of black and blue fruit with cloves, cardamom, leather and wet earth. Medium-bodied with fine tannins. Velvety on the palate with notes of savory blue fruit, spices and wet leaves. Flavorful finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The modern and fruit-driven 2018 Cantos de Valpiedra comes from younger vines and stonier soils after they did a soil study, showing the alluvial character through moderate alcohol (13%) and good acidity (pH 3.62). So, the wines comes through as medium-bodied, balanced and fresh, with a vibrant palate and fine tannins. It's nice how integrated the oak is after one year in barrel.
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Wine Enthusiast
Inky garnet to the eye, this wine has a bouquet of purple plum and milk chocolate. It opens with bright notes of cranberry and pomegranate that are joined by dark chocolate, dried oregano and orange zest flavors. Silky tannins, bright acidity and a soft finish make for a nice sip.
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.