A brilliant and clean ruby colour with intense and complex aromas with hints of ripe fruits, plums and savoury notes including toasted nuts. A very well balanced wine with a persistent finish. Food matches: Roasts, grilled meats, legumes and medium and strong cheeses.
The French oak used to age this Castillo Labastida Rioja Madurado imparts a toasted vanilla, chocolate aromas and touches of coffee but the entire bouquet is very well balanced, highlighting liquorice and red fruits on top of a bed of spices.
Pencil shavings filter throughout this denser, riper Rioja Reserva, with bigger sweet tobacco smoke clouding the view of the dark cherry cordial core. Black plum, blackberry jam, medicinal cherry is spread thick on the palate, with dense tannins shouldering this all in to a balsamic finish. Feels su...more »nbaked, especially on the warming finish. From Spain's innovative Vintae project, this is a blend of tempranillo and graciano from terraced soils in the area of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, La Rioja, that has seen twenty months in French and American oak. Ragu would be a fitting, hardy match for this.
Tempranillo is splashed with garnacha and graciano in this youthful Rioja. Juicy red currant, cherry and plum has an abundance of joyful florals and a modicum of tannic grip, perfectly placed to frame the sun-warmed fruit. A dusting of peppery spicing closes out the finish. This spends 18 months in ...more »older American oak, all ably gobbled up by the fruit. This is for drinking now, ideally with sausage/arugula pizza mid-week.
Its short aging, 3-4 months in new barrels, gives this wine complexity, accompanying red fruits and liquorice aromas typical of the variety. A tasty wine, rich in fruity tastes with a sweet tannin structure.
A modern, vibrant, unoaked Tempranillo. Oozing with red fruits, fresh cherries and plums with hints of spicy complexity. Soft and easy to drink with approachable ripe fruit yet well-structured. A great entry level Rioja.