(2024) This top cuvée from Ukan in Rioja Alavesa come from three old, bush vine Tempranillo vineyards on clay-limestone soil. Fermented with native yeasts in oak vats, with 30% of whole clusters, the wine is then aged in French oak barrels for 15 months. It's a sumptuous Rioja this, with huge natural concentration, the deep mulberry fruit glossed with a violet perfume and sheen of oak. Tannins are ripe and rippling, and the acidity balances perfectly. Hedonistic and extremely polished stuff.
(2024) From a small parcel of vines that range in age from 40 to 90 years, sited in Rioja Alavesa. All are dry-farmed bush vines planted on limestone and clay. It spends 10 months in French oak. In a heavyweight bottle, this deeply-coloured wine has notes of vanilla and clove over ripe blackcurrant and damson plum. Some cedar and tobacco adds finesse. In the mouth the black fruit is dense and chocolaty. Tannins are ripe and creamy but add a definite grip, the oak tannins adding charry darkness, and the black cherry acidity well-balanced. It's a serious and ambitious style this, which would have good cellaring potential. Not in the UK at time of writing.
(2024) Ramón Bilbao's pink Rioja is a blend of 80% Garnacha and 20% Viura, coming from specially selected vineyards planted at between 550 and 770 metres altitude. Medium pale with a peachy hue, lots of confectionery and estery notes, hints of banana, orange and exotic fruit. In the mouth the wine is dry, quite pithy lemon fruit and acidity dominate at first, though it has a clean watermelon lightness and sour plum freshness. Quite fruity, but delicate.
(2024) A rosé from Rioja Alavesa, 100% Tempranillo, wirh a relatively deep colour. There's a jammy cherry ripeness to this, plenty of fruit sweetness moving into strawberry. Quite weighty in texture, but balance is good with sufficient acidity to offset the sweet fruit that could otherwise verge on the slightly cloying. No UK retail stockists at time of review.
(2024) 100% Tempranillo, this is a high quality Rioja which will appeal most to fans of the marzipan, coconut and espresso-slicked hedonistic and velvety style. The fruit comes from the best vineyards of the property where vines have an average age of 50 years. The wine spends 24 months in all new American oak barrels, where it remains for 24 months, followed by several year in bottle before release. After that intense, balsamic richness of the aromas, the palate shows sumptuous depths of black fruit and charry oak, but zipping cherry and plum skin acidity as well as edgy tannins bring freshness. Long, spicy finish.
(2024) According to the Faustino web site this iconic wine represents three out of every 10 bottles of Rioja Gran Reserva sold in the world. It is certainly the most recognisable and, between that and its ubiquity, is so easy to overlook a wine like this in favour or newer or less familar names. Although there are notes on 300 Riojas in wine-pages database, this one has never featured. Aged a minimum of 24 months in French and American oak and 36 in bottle, there's surprisingly little of the coconut and vanilla character one might expect from a 14-year-old, traditional Rioja. Instead it is cedary and spicy, with red fruits that are plummy and savoury. In the mouth it again doesn't have the sumptuous softness that I think I recall from previous tastings. A little mocha coffee does underpin, but the firm acids and grippy tannins dominate though balanced by some solid, plummy fruit. Watch the video for more information and food matching ideas. Costco is the place to buy at £15.49, though widely available including Asda and Tesco at £18-£19.
(2024) A limited production wine made from 100-year-old Tempranillo from a single vineyard at 550 metres in the Rioja Alta region. It spent seven months in French oak barrels and 10 more in bottle before release. Vanilla, rich black fruit and a racy suggestion of gravel and cedar are the opening impressions. There's a little hint of violet lift too. In the mouth it is firm and structured. A vinous black plum, blackcurrant intensity of fruit floods the mid-palate, but mouth-coating, sandy tannins combine with spicy, mocha coffee oak and pert cherry acidity to give a long, fresh but powerful finish with a bit of gravitas. Should cellar well. Watch the video for more information.
(2023) The blend is Tempranillo (80%) and Garnacha (20%), the wine fermented with indigenous yeasts. There's a painstaking elevage, with long maceration then gentle pressing into a combination of second use, 225-litre French oak barrels and new Hungarian oak casks. After 16 months the wine remains in concrete vats for a further 22 months. Exquisite nose; so refined with pencil-shaving nuances and old polished wood, a wreath of gentle smoke and a deep seam of black fruits. In the mouth the tannins here have been burnished to a firm, but elegant sheen and the acidity and crisp nature of the blackcurranty fruit gives this liveliness and sophistication. This one is approachable now with food, but will cellar for 10 years easily. Beautifully composed.
Multibuy price £99.
(2023) From a single vineyard at 650m elevation this is an ultra-selection of the best fruit, fermented with indigenous yeasts. It spent 14 months in 500-litre French oak barrels, before finishing in concrete vats for a further eight months. There's a real buoyancy about this aromatically, with potpourri florals and spices running into zippy red fruit, the oak much less imposing than in the Mirto for example. In the mouth there is a creamy gloss of polished oak, and it's a wine in a very sprightly style; it's not without concentration and a residual whack of tannin and oak spice underpinning, but the acidity is crisp and the fruit stays in that red spectrum. Multibuy price £99.
(2023) a project begun in 1999 to bottle an expression of Tempranillo from a single, high-altitude vineyard of 85 year-old vines. Matured for 24 months in 100% French oak barrels. Very dark and dense, the sonorous nose beguils with violet and kirsch lift over very classy French oak. Fabulous nose as exotic spices and tobacco join the plush black fruit the lies beneath, with a wisp of smokiness. The oak is possibly a little too toasty and charry at present, suggesting this needs time to me, because beneath, all of that structure and fruit concentration is there. Elegant cherry-bright acids and slick tannins do balance in a wine that is hedonistic, without going OTT. I'd approach again after decanting or more ageing - or with a chunk of serious protein. Multibuy price £42.75.
