Winemaker Notes
The 2019 La Maldita Red is a trendy red that is fresh and easy to drink. A nimble wine from old vines in Tudelilla and Central Rioja. Part of the wine (30%) was aged in barrels for three months, while the rest matured on the lees in tanks.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
La Maldita is no longer part of a range from Vivanco; it's a separate project that keeps growing, and the entry-level red is the 2019 Garnacha, an unoaked, young, primary and fruit-driven juicy wine from a vintage that seems very good for this style of easy and immediate wines. It's direct, sincere, without complexes and, in this case, with a very pure varietal expression of flowers and red fruit, ripe enough with freshness and acidity and a fine thread in the palate. It's dry, long and easy to drink. Only a fraction of the wine matured in oak barrel for a couple of months. That is a plus in this vintage.
Rating: 90+
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Highly regarded for distinctive and age-worthy red wines, Rioja is Spain’s most celebrated wine region. Made up of three different sub-regions of varying elevation: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. Wines are typically a blend of fruit from all three, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta, at the highest elevation, is 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 and higher alcohol, which can add great body and richness to a blend.
Fresh and fruity Rioja wines labeled, Joven, (meaning young) see minimal aging before release, but more serious Rioja wines undergo multiple years in oak. Crianza and Reserva styles are aged for one year in oak, and Gran Reserva at least two, but in practice this maturation period is often quite a bit longer—up to about fifteen years.
Tempranillo provides the backbone of Rioja red wines, adding complex notes of red and black fruit, leather, toast and tobacco, while Garnacha supplies body. In smaller percentages, Graciano and Mazuelo (Carignan) often serve as “seasoning” with additional flavors and aromas. These same varieties are responsible for flavorful dry rosés.
White wines, typically balancing freshness with complexity, are made mostly from crisp, fresh Viura. Some whites are blends of Viura with aromatic Malvasia, and then barrel fermented and aged to make a more ample, richer style of white.