La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890 Selecion Especial Rioja 2010  £175.00

La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva Selecion Especial 890 2010

Unique, special, timeless and eternal.

Report from the winery...

Harvest

One of the best of the 21st century. The key factors were very good weather, ensuring excellent vegetative and sanitary conditions right up to the end of the cycle, and low yields. This resulted in medium-sized, very loose bunches with small berries. In addition, there were frequent days with sunny mornings and cool nights, which helped the grapes to ripen slowly and evenly. One of the most Atlantic vintages of recent years, it has enabled us to obtain wines of great freshness and complexity, ideal for long ageing. Officially rated as Excellent.

Vineyards, Grapes & Ageing

Tempranillo (95%) and Mazuelo (2%) from our own vineyards in Briñas, Labastida and Villalba and Graciano (3%) from our Montecillo vineyard in Fuenmayor. The grapes, sourced from some of our oldest vineyards, were harvested by hand using 20 kg boxes and transported in refrigerated vehicles to the winery. After gentle destemming and crushing, the musts underwent alcoholic fermentation for 18 days in tanks. We blended the Tempranillo and Mazuelo grapes in the vineyard and fermented them together, while Graciano was handled separately. Malolactic fermentation occurred naturally and lasted four months. After stabilisation over the winter, we selected the best batches which were then left to rest in barrels for six years with 10 traditional rackings. After the winter stabilisation, we selected the best lots that were transferred to barrels for six years with 10 traditional rackings. With regular tastings and analysis during this period, we selected the ones that best represented the character of this wine: 236 barrels that were bottled in March 2017 in 61,643 75 cl. bottles, 4,189 magnums and 149 double magnums.  To preserve its aromas, this wine was not filtered before bottling. This is the first Gran Reserva 890 vintage that we have made after the legendary 2005.

Tasting notes

It stands out for its medium garnet red colour, with an incipient iodine tinge on the rim of the glass. The nose reveals the characteristic notes of Rioja classicism: cherry jam, black plum compote, tobacco leaf, cinnamon, vanilla, pepper and chocolate powder. The refinement of its tannins and its gentle freshness lends this wine an elegant and pleasant mouthfeel. Classic Rioja bouquet, broad, complex, round and with an elegant finish. This Gran Reserva 890 has a long life ahead of it.

Pairing

Mild dishes with light sauces. Meat stews with aromatic herbs. Desserts with chocolate. Perfect as an after-dinner drink.

99 Points & Best Rioja - Penin Guide

97 Points RobertParker.com

They were eager to show me their 2010 Gran Reserva 890, their flagship wine from one of the most heralded vintages of recent times, the next vintage of this wine since 2005. It's 95% Tempranillo, 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo that fermented destemmed and crushed with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats for 18 days, the Tempranillo and Mazuelo together and the Graciano separately. After letting the wine settle for the winter, they selected the lots that would age for six years in used American oak barrels with 10 manual rackings. The wine epitomizes the classical style of Rioja Alta with long aging in barrel, developed and tertiary wines with a silky palate and a complex and decadent nose of forest floor, truffles, cigar ash and cedar wood. They need a very special selection of vineyards at higher altitude that take longer to ripen, and they don't do it fully every year. If they don't, the grapes go to Ardanza, but in 2010, the days were warm and the nights very cold and the grapes ripened thoroughly and could stand the long time in barrel without being oaky. They have stopped the last rackings to keep a little more freshness, and the wine feels phenomenal. This has to be one of the finest vintages for this wine. It's drinkable now but should also age for a very long time; it's intense, complex and elegant. A selection of 236 barrels were blended and bottled unfiltered in March 2017 into 61,643 bottles, 4,189 magnums and some larger formats. There will be a 2011 of this wine and then 2015 and possibly 2016 (but no 2012, 2013 or 2014). This is a very intense 890. Classicism in a bottle.

Luis Gutiérrez