Winemaker Notes
An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes ripe black and blue fruits, peppery spices and fresh flowers, with a touch of pipe tobacco in the background. Gently sweet and floral on the palate, offering intense blueberry and black raspberry flavors that tighten up on the back half. Energetic, precise wine with strong closing lift and spicy persistence; subtle tannins build slowly and add shape.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
I like the mineral, stone and dark berry character. Hints of lemon rind. Medium body, bright acidity and a focused finish. An enjoyable linear edge to it.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2014 Alberto Orte Sierra de la Demanda is a formidable red wine that slows an attractive elevation on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with aromas and flavors of dried earth, savory spices, dried fruit, and a floral note. Pair it with roast chicken in a mixed with garden-fresh lettuces. (Tasted: October 10, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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.