Winemaker Notes
Solidly crafted, the Rioja shows a deep, opaque color, deep, almost charred aromas of coffee and toast. On the palate are flavors of ripe plum, coffee, and licorice. The wine has solid tannins and a powerful, lingering finish.
The Rioja will make a great match for tonight's meal of lamb chops with oregano, or spicy pepper steak.
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.