Description

Description

Long ageing in bottle and American oak barrel has produced this smooth, velvety and savoury Rioja with notes of blackcurrant, raisin, vanilla and spice. Perfect with lamb or very mature cheddar.

Grape

Tempranillo is a black grape variety widely grown throughout the Iberian peninsula and is considered to be Spain’s best quality grape. It produces wines with blackcurrant and sharper redcurrant character. Its name is the diminutive of the Spanish ‘early’ as it ripens several weeks earlier than most Spanish red grapes. Crianza means the wine is aged for at least 2 years before release with 6 months in oak, so this style will have pronounced vanilla and oak spice on the nose and plum and redcurrant character on the palate with firm tannins.

Producer

Bodegas Urbina is a small, family-run estate that practises organic methods (not certified) with 75 hectares of vineyard. They use organic fertilisers, indigenous yeasts and avoid the use of weed killers and pesticides. They specialise in producing harmonious wines that benefit from a long period of ageing in their cool cellars – this 11 year old wine is the youngest in the range! The grapes for this wine come from 30 year old vines which are hand-harvested and selected.

Region

Rioja is a wine region in the Basque country in north central Spain. The vineyards are on a high plateau and this altitude tempers the otherwise hot climate allowing the region to produce some of the most balanced, elegant wines in the world. Tempranillo is the backbone of the reds and wines may also include Grenache and Graciano. The use of spicy new oak is a hallmark of both red and white Rioja and it is one of the few regions that mature its wines for long periods in-situ and only shipping when wines are soft, mature and ready to drink.

Food Pairing

A really elegant wine with soft tannins and mature fruit character so will harmonise well with subtle red meats like lamb. Also good with mature hard cheeses.