Winemaker Notes
The reserva wines of Marqués de Riscal are made basically from grapes coming from vines over 15 years old, of the Tempranillo variety. This is a variety that ages well in wood, producing wines with a good tannic structure, color and acidity during the ageing process. The reserva wines of Riscal spend approximately two years in American oak barrels, forming a wine which adheres to the principles of classic Rioja wines.
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.