Winemaker Notes
Another long standing brand, dating back to 1915, stands out as one of the most traditional. This wine, darker in hue, exudes aromas of cassis and herbs, boasting enhanced structure from aging for 18 months in a blend of 80% French and 20% American oak barrels.
Blend:90% Tempranillo, 7% Graciano, 3% Garnacha
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From old vines on the slopes of the Sierra Cantabria, the 2019 Honorable is the producer’s most storied wine, first produced in 1915 and made primarily from Tempranillo with Garnacha and Graciano. French oak barrels are used for aging. Full-bodied, it’s muscular and voluminous, with ample oak and tannin. Dried fruit, baking spice, dried herb, and leather accent a dark, brooding character lifted only slightly by the Graciano’s acidity.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Honorable feels younger and a lot less developed than the majority of 2019s that I tasted for this report. It has a deep color and a youthful and expressive nose of ripe berries without any excess—clean and open, combining traditional and more modern characteristics. It's a classical blend of 80% Tempranillo, 15% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo that matured for 18 months in barrels, 80% French and 20% American. It's ripe, showing the powerful year, with 14.5% alcohol, freshness and balance and a pH of 3.73.
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.