Over the years A LOT of La Rioja Alta juice has passed through these doors.\u00a0 But, for reasons we can\u2019t really put our finger on, not a lot of this particular bottling.\u00a0 Part of that is that it isn\u2019t bottled every year. In this case, this is also the first Vina Arana (2012) to have a Gran Reserva designation, making definitely worth highlighting even as we have an epic version of the Vina Ardanza (2010) on the floor.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the winery tells it, \u201cA vintage marked by drought, resulting in very heterogeneous grapes. Late September rains had a very positive effect on vine development, resulting in perfect ripening. The grapes arrived in perfect condition with a great balance between alcoholic strength and polyphenols, leading to wines of superb quality, with good polyphenolic structure and magnificent aromatic tipicity, key traits for making aged wines and determinant in our decision to make our first ever Vi\u00f1a Arana Gran Reserva.<\/strong><\/a>\u201d\u00a0 In simple terms, this Rioja rocks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The star of the show is Tempranillo (95%) from 40-year-old vines from Las Cuevas, El Palo and Las Monjas vineyards in Rodezno complemented with 5% Graciano from the Montecillo estate in Fuenmayor.\u00a0 This is everything you could ask from a Rioja in the classic sense.\u00a0 There\u2019s plenty of round, supple-yet-lifted and energetic plum and blackcurrant fruit with flecks of spice, tobacco, damp earth, and dried orange.\u00a0 Impressive from start to finish, harmonious, and textbook Rioja, this is one where the bottle just doesn\u2019t seem quite big enough.\u00a0 Super deliciosa!<\/p>\n\n\n\n James Suckling clearly \u2018got it\u2019, commenting, \u201cBrambleberries, licorice, dried blueberries, cedar, tobacco, smoke, vanilla, dried citrus and even a hint of grapefruit. The laser-sharp acidity evinces a real sense of purity, and the tannins are really edgy and structured. Full-bodied but very elegant and stylish. The finish goes on and on, thanks to the shimmering acidity. Beautiful now…95 points.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over the years A LOT of La Rioja Alta juice has passed through these doors.\u00a0 But, for reasons we can\u2019t really put our finger on, not a lot of this particular bottling.\u00a0 Part of that is that it isn\u2019t bottled every year. In this case, this is also the first Vina Arana (2012) to have … Continue reading “RIGHTEOUS RIOJA”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[37],"tags":[317,638,151,390,102,153],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3528"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3528"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3531,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3528\/revisions\/3531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}