Winemaker Notes
Tawny color of medium intensity. It stands out for its red fruits, prune and licorice scents wrapped in pastry, black pepper and vanilla hints from the oak barrel. Round, with pleasant structure, balanced acidity and elegant tannins giving fruit in liqueur hints in the aftertaste.
Goes well with turkey, pork, chargrilled vegetables, black pudding and spicy Asian dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Subtle nose, with dusty plums, white pepper and some green spices. Medium-bodied palate with a subtle, saline tone to the elegant cherries and plums. Tight, creamy tannins and a nuanced finish. Understated style.
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.