Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Savory berries with aromas of white pepper, blood orange peel, preserved plums, iron and a touch of dust. Still pretty structured and intense, with a medium to full body, but juicy and long.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Viña Cubillo Tinto Crianza was surprising, spectacular, elegant, clean and fresh like few vintages before. It was a superb year, with quality, quantity and freshness. It's quite the opposite from the previous 2015, which was a much warmer and riper year. The 2016s have moderate alcohol and especially the perception of less ripeness (even though the alcohol is very similar). It feels very young, still quite primary. Mercedes explained, "Cubillas, a 24-hectare plot, is a vineyard that could produce Gran Reserva wines. It's a very good vineyard, but we would miss the Crianza in our range". In fact, the comment was that this vintage is even a challenge for the Viña Tondonia red "because of its price." It is indeed a bargain. "But it doesn't have the finesse of Tondonia," concluded María José. Anyway, it's super tasty.
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Wine Spectator
Leather, tar and spice box aromas offer a fragrant overtone for this fresh, medium-bodied red. Fine, taut tannins sculpt flavors of dried cherry and cranberry, singed orange peel and cured tobacco. Silky on the palate, this opens nicely in the glass. Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2029. 7,500 cases made, 5,000 cases imported.
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.