Winemaker Notes
Blend: 90% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Excellent, benchmark-quality Rioja crianza that shows the spicy side of the vintage. Peppery, juicy and bright, with a medium body and a nice chew of fine-grained tannins. Quite long. A smart buy. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Viña Real Crianza was produced with 90% Tempranillo and the rest Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano from Rioja Alavesa. It matured in French and American oak barrels for 13 to 14 months. It has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.6 and is polished and easy to understand. All the younger reds have some common aromatic notes reminiscent of honey and beeswax, aromatic herbs and berries. It has abundant, fine-grained tannins.
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Vinous
The 2021 Crianza, a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano from Rioja Alavesa, aged for 14 months in French oak barrels. Garnet in color, this wine offers fresh plums and cherries accompanied by wild herbs. Dry and juicy on the palate, the fine-grained tannins lead to a cleansing and lasting finish. This is a modern expression of Rioja.
Owned by the CVNE family , Viña Real dates back to 1920. Today this winery is not only a winemaking pioneer in ageing Rioja Alavesa but a timeless brand that has always remained faithful to its roots, with authenticity and sincerity at the fore.
Ever since then, a meticulous balance between tradition and modernity has defined the shape and content of Viña Real.
2004 saw the inauguration of the new Viña Real winery in Laguardia, where the whole process takes place from receiving the grapes to dispatching bottled wines.
Rioja Alavesa grapes are at the very heart of this winery. The winery’s name was inspired by the proximity of its vineyards to the old Camino Real. Clinging to this same patch of earth and blending into the Cerro de la Mesa hill is a monumental 30,000-square metre vat: this is the Viña Real building, an iconic design built in 2004 that masterfully blends the construction into the Riojan terrain.
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.