Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Hazana Vinas Viejas is simply one of the greatest values in Rioja that money can buy. A blend of 85% Tempranillo and 15% Graciano, this collaboration between importer Eric Solomon and the owner and winemaker has produced an absolutely amazing Rioja from 45- to 70-year-old unirrigated, head-pruned vines. Loads of lead pencil shavings, black and red currants, licorice and tobacco leaf all jump from the glass of this dense, ruby/purple wine. Soft tannins, medium to full body and fabulous intensity, make for a sensational Rioja to drink over the next 5-7 years.
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.