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The 2016 Vina Real Rioja Gran Reserva Especial is 95% Tempranillo with 5% Graciano. Only made in the very greatest vintages, it is aged for over two years in French and American oak barrels. It offers such a comforting, mellow sip of delicious dark cherry laced with saddle leather, truffle, vanilla, camphor and clove. There is a delicacy to this special wine that shows subtle, layered flavours on the palate. Gentle tannins and a high acidity provide the perfect framework for it to continue to age with grace, gaining yet more complexity. Really quite remarkable value for money and perfect with grilled lamb chops. Drink 2023-2033.
The 2016 Vina Real Rioja Gran Reserva Especial is 95% Tempranillo with 5% Graciano. Only made in the very greatest vintages, it is aged for over two years in French and American oak barrels. It offers such a comforting, mellow sip of delicious dark cherry laced with saddle leather, truffle, vanilla, camphor and clove. There is a delicacy to this special wine that shows subtle, layered flavours on the palate. Gentle tannins and a high acidity provide the perfect framework for it to continue to age with grace, gaining yet more complexity. Really quite remarkable value for money and perfect with grilled lamb chops. Drink 2023-2033.
Attractive nose of dark cherries, dill, thyme, coconut and chocolate. Some salted caramel, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, silky tannins and vibrant acidity. So balanced and fresh with a long, refined finish. 95% tempranillo and 5% Graciano. Better from 2024.
The extremely affordable 2016 Viña Real Gran Reserva Especial recovers the "Especial" mention from the old Reserva Especial vintages from a very good year. It's a classical Rioja Alavesa blend of 95% Tempranillo with 5% Graciano from their own vineyards. It's open and expressive, with notes of berries, fresh blood and iron, orange peel and sweet spices with the oak still present and in need of some more time in bottle. The palate is medium-bodied and feels lean and serious, with abundant chalky tannins. This should be a classical vintage of this wine in the making. It matured in barrel for two years and no less than three in bottle. Drink 2023-2034.
By far the best known of Spain's wine regions is Rioja, which takes its name from the rio(river) Oja, a tributary of the river Ebro. Lying in the north of the country, along the Ebro valley, the area is sheltered from rain-bearing Atlantic winds by the dramatic Sierra de Cantabria to the north and west. The hilly vineyards are interspersed with orchards, poplars and eucalyptus trees. Rioja is further divided into three sub-regions - Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja. The first two are best regarded, with vines planted on cool slopes with clay and limestone soils. The permitted grape varieties for Rioja are tempranillo, which is grown extensively in Rioja Alta and Alavesa and will form the backbone of all the best wines, garnacha, widespread in Rioja Baja and used to add body to the blend, and mazuelo (carignan) and graciano, both grown in miniscule proportions. The key to understanding Rioja is the technique used to mature the wine. Unlike most other areas of Europe, American oak barrels are used which give the wines their characteristic soft vanilla, almost coconuty flavour. Historically the wines were aged for periods far longer than legally required, until all the fruit character had died down and the end result was a light, tawny-coloured wine dominated by oak flavours. Although there are still supporters of this classic style, far more producers are making wines in a more modern way, allowing the dark berry fruit flavours to burst through balanced by a more judicious use of oak ageing and often opting for French oak now.
