Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Viña Arana Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo with 5% Mazuelo (aka Cariñena) fermented with natural yeasts and had a slow malolactic fermentation of 56 days after which the wine was put in barrel in July 2007 where they matured for three years being racked every six months before they were bottled in December 2010. It feels like a ripe red, with notes of forest floor, dark cherries, spices and hints of leather, hung game, smoke and toasted notes. The palate is lush, and polished, with a velvety texture and moderate acidity. It is ready to be enjoyed now and able to stand the test of time. And all that at a very good price.
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Wine & Spirits
A strong contender in a challenging vintage, this wine has benefitted from its time resting in the cellars at La Rioja Alta. It seems to glow in the dark, with lush red fruit, a little bitterness in the tannins along with American oak notes of coconut and dill. Tart and juicy, it’s built for grilled meats.
Always evolving quality, elegance, innovation, evolution... They are the pillars on which the five founding families erected our winery in 1890 and built a way of living, feeling and producing wines of the highest quality that continue to evolve subtly, perfectly adapting to new tastes. This is how the permanent pursuit of excellence started; a pursuit that continues into the 21st century with identical enthusiasm. We draw the best from our winemaking tradition and wisdom —our own cooperage, manual racking, long ageing periods, etc.— and combine it with the most modern winemaking technology. Today, our wines are an international exemplar of the great wines of Rioja and our brands are present in the best restaurants across all continents.
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.