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The 10 best Riojas of 2021
We reveal our top 10 selection from this year’s Rioja Masters competition, which ranges from a joven to a very old gran reserva; a pale salmon rosado to a barrel-fermented blanco, along with a couple of outstanding single-vineyard options taking in the newly formed Viñedo Singular classification.
RIOJA VEGA TEMPRANILLO BLANCO RESERVA, 2018
Producer: Rioja Vega
Vintage: 2018
Blend: Tempranillo Blanco
Style: Rioja Blanco Reserva
Colour: White
ABV: 13.5%
UK retail price: £45
Medal: Master
Here’s something genuinely exciting for lovers of fine white wine – a drop based on an extremely rare grape with the qualities of great Bourgogne blanc. Made entirely from Tempranillo Blanco – a natural mutation of Rioja’s flagship red grape, Tempranillo – and barrel-fermented like a white Burgundy, it has similarly inviting notes of toast, cream, and citrus, along with a gently sulphidic note, like a freshly struck match. But this isn’t a Chardonnay from the Côte d’Or, and shows distinctive notes of its Spanish grape-region
combination, with layers of fruit from apple and pear, to pineapple, then some vanilla, along with a gently oily mouthfeel, and a chalky tasting dry finish. In short, it’s proof that the consejo regulador was right to officially sanction the use of Tempranillo Blanco in the DOC wines of Rioja in 2007
EXCELLENS ROSÉ DE MARQUÉS DE CÁCERES, 2020
Producer: Marqués de Cáceres
Vintage: 2020
Blend: Garnacha 60%, Tempranillo 40%
Style: Rioja Rosado
Colour: Rosé
ABV: 13.5%
UK retail price: £10
Medal: Silver
In a world where the majority of pale salmon pink, bone-dry rosés are French, with the upmarket ones primarily from Provence, it’s good to see others enter the fray, like this beautifully-packaged rosado from reliable Rioja maker Marqués de Cáceres. Like Provençal rosés it’s made with Grenache – which is in any case a Spanish grape, Garnacha – but making it more uniquely Rioja is the use of Tempranillo in the blend too. As for the taste, this is a delicate rosé with a touch of ripe strawberry, and a gently creamy taste and texture, but it’s more about subtle refreshment than rich fruit, featuring notes of white peach and redcurrant, along with a dry chalkiness on the finish.
BODEGAS NAVAJAS, LOS VINATEROS CRIANZA, 2016
Producer: Bodegas Navajas
Vintage: 2016
Blend: 100% Tempranillo
Style: Rioja Crianza
Colour: Red
ABV: 13.5%
UK retail price: £9
Medal: Gold
Testament to the good value on offer from Rioja is this crianza red from Bodegas Navajas. Retailing for around £10, it is a mature, juicy-fresh drop, with notes of plums, red berries, and white pepper along with some oak-derived notes of vanilla and coconut. Neither heavy nor thin, it’s a lovely, medium-weight red with ripe fruit and bright acidity.
FAUSTINO VII, 2020
Producer: Bodegas Faustino
Vintage: 2020
Blend: 100% Tempranillo
Style: Rioja joven
Colour: Red
ABV: 13.5%
UK retail price: £8
Medal: Silver
Here’s a genuine bargain: a juicy wine with ripe raspberry and strawberry fruit, a touch of peppery spice, and some creamy vanilla, along with some fine dry tannin to cleanse and refresh the mouth. The cost for all this? Around £8. And while it’s a joven – referring to its young state – Rioja’s hallmark oak-sourced characters are evident in this balanced sub-£10 red because it has spent 10 months in American oak.
CAMINOS DE SACRAMENTO, 2019
Producer: Viña Leizaola
Vintage: 2019
Blend: 92% Tempranillo, 8% Garnacha
Style: Rioja Viño de Autor
Colour: Red
ABV: 14.5%
UK retail price: £15-20
Medal: Gold
The Tempranillo-dominant drop from Rioja Alavesa, which is listed as a classification-defying Vino de Autor, is an exciting find for lovers of generous, warming reds, who don’t want to spend a fortune. Rubbing shoulders with Riojas costing more than twice its retail price of around £15, the Caminos de Sacramento gained a Gold medal for its delicious and intense combination of black cherry and sweet raspberry fruit, creamy-vanilla barrel-sourced richness, as well as persistent toasty notes, followed by plenty of fine tannin to provide a pleasantly dry finish. In short, it’s a powerful, fruity, oaky blockbuster of a Rioja for those on a budget.
GAUDIUM, 2016
Producer: Marqués de Cáceres
Vintage: 2016
Blend: 95% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano
Style: Rioja Reserva
Colour: Red
ABV: 14.5%
UK retail price: £45
Medal: Master
It may be associated with medium-weight reds with flavours of strawberry, spice and coconut, but there are wide variations in Rioja’s style. At one extreme, is a type of wine that’s intense, powerful and concentrated – a red with body and texture that’s impressive when young, but built to cellar for decades. Gaudium – a flagship reserve Rioja from Marqués de Cáceres – is a brilliant example of this. Employing primarily Tempranillo from high-altitude vineyards aged from 70 to more than 100 years old, it’s a rich, but balanced expression, with masses of tight-knit tannins, toasty oak, and incredible fruit, perfectly ripe and dense, with notes ranging from dark cherry, to blackberry, plum and prune, complemented by a touch of pepper and a hint of redcurrant-like brightness. This is a big but drinkable drop.
VIÑA POMAL GRAN RESERVA, 2014
Producer: Viña Pomal
Vintage: 2014
Blend: 90% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano
Style: Rioja Gran Reserva
Colour: Red
ABV: 14%
UK retail price: £30
Medal: Master
Successfully straddling the classic and modern faces of Rioja is Viña Pomal, with wines that have weight and richness, but not too much sweetness and concentration. This is especially seen with this producer’s outstanding Gran Reserva, an aged style of Rioja that tends to bring wonderful characters from extended maturation in barrels, but can also result in wines with little fruit, and plenty of tannins. In this case, you get the positives without the downsides, as
the wine contains plenty of fleshy, ripe red and dark fruit, from cherry to raspberry, then some more developed notes of sweet balsamic, prune and cedarwood.
MONTE REAL GRAN RESERVA MÁGNUM, 1975
Producer: Monte Real
Vintage: 1975
Blend: 85% Tempranillo, 10% Mazuelo, 5% Graciano
Style: Rioja Gran Reserva
Colour: Red
ABV: 14%
UK retail price: £50+
Medal: Master
One of the great and in my view underappreciated aspects of Rioja is its ability to live for remarkably long periods. I’m talking about wines that still have energy, fruit, and freshness after decades spent ageing in bottle. And here is an outstanding example of that. Sold in magnums, it hails from the 1975 vintage, and is still packed with enough force to keep slowly maturing for many years more, but when opened now, it offers an extremely rare taste of something special.
YSIOS, FINCA EL NOGAL, 2017
Producer: Bodegas Ysios
Vintage: 2017
Blend: 100% Tempranillo
Style: Rioja Viñedo Singular
Colour: Red
ABV: 14.5%
UK retail price: £50+
Medal: Master
Wow. That was my first impression, having tasted the viñedo singular Finca El Nogal, such is the instant, huge hit of flavour and texture from this flagship Rioja from Bodegas Ysios. Using Tempranillo from a 70-year-old vineyard planted at more than 570m above sea level in Rioja Alavesa, there is sweetness, power, and brightness to this massive wine, which spends 20 months in French oak barriques. In terms of flavours, there’s dark cherry, blackberry and raspberry, vanilla, toast, roasted coffee and spice, and while there’s masses of concentration, there is also plenty of densely packed tannin, which acts to dry the palate, creating a mouth-watering finish.
VIÑA ZACO VIÑEDO SINGULAR, 2017
Producer: Bodegas Bilbainas
Vintage: 2017
Blend: 100% Tempranillo
Style: Rioja Viñedo Singular
Colour: Red
ABV: 15%
UK retail price: £50+
Medal: Master
Like the Finca El Nogal from Bodegas Ysios, the Vina Zaco is a viñedo singular, but this time – made by Bodegas Bilbainas – it’s from Rioja Alta, not Alavesa. As a result, the Viña Zaco’s 2017 expression – the first year this top tier of Rioja for special sites was authorised – has a bit more black fruit and structure than the red from Ysios. Both are generous, powerful wines, with, in the case of the Viña Zaco, masses of sweet dark cherry and blackcurrant, vanilla and toast, followed by a bright, tight tannic sensation to the finish.