Marques de Vargas Crianza 2011
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Blend: 100% Tempranillo
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Ripe, baked aromas of cassis, plum and cinnamon lead to an alert, lively palate with big tannins. Flavors of spicy red-berry fruits come with a dusting of cocoa, while muscular tannins give structure to a full-force finish. Drink through 2022.
Saying Marques de Vargas in the wine world is naming four generations dedicated to the production and sales of excellent Rioja wines. The title of the Marqués de Vargas is held by a family closely linked to this important viticultural region in Spain. It was in 1840 when Felipe de Mata, the eighth Marques de Vargas, planted the first vines in the outskirts of Logrono. Especially memorable was Hilario de la Mata, the father of the current Marqués de Vargas, who for years presided over one of the most emblematic wineries in Rioja. In 1989, Pelayo de la Mata, the current Marqués de Vargas, realized his father’s dream by building a winery on the Estate Hacienda Pradolagar in Logroño.
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.