Winemaker Notes
Blend: 89% Tempranillo, 9% Graciano, 3% Mazuelo
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Very fragrant, overt nose with oregano, thyme, tarragon, sage and curry leaf at the fore. Top notes of sandalwood and violets. Beautifully presented tannins. Red fruit grip offset by a spicy edge, dark fruit depth and graphite-like minerality. Long finish with lingering prune, cherry and pencil shavings. Will benefit from some time in bottle to integrate wood and tannnins. From vines averaging 60 years of age in the foothills of the Sierra de Cantabria, 89% Tempranillo (the destemmed shoulders only), 9% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo are fermented in stainless steel and concrete tanks of different capacities and shapes, followed by 26 months in 225L oak barrels – 80% French and 20% American, 60% new and 40% second-use.
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Wine Spectator
This balanced red laces creamed cherry and wild strawberry fruit with notes of warm spices, tea leaf and vanilla, backed by the bright tang of blood orange peel and pomegranate seed accents. A dense core of chalky tannins is enmeshed in the silky texture, emerging to firm the finish.
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.