2009 Remelluri La Granja Gran Reserva Rioja

Last year I tasted the Reserva and it's now time for the 2009 Granja Remelluri Gran Reserva, which will be released worldwide around September (and therefore the price is approximate).This is a category they had not produced since 2005 and only bottled in exceptional vintages (1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2005). In their mountain vineyards (500 to 800 meters altitude), the 2009 season saw a cold and long winter with enough snow that provided enough water for a warm summer. It's a blend of the traditional Rioja grapes, Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano and the whites Viura and Malvasía. As in the past, all red wines contained a more or less small amount of white grapes and despite being considered modern when their first released their wines, today they are as classical as it gets. The wine fermented with indigenous yeasts in a combination of small stainless-steel and oak vats then matured in French oak barrels of different sizes and ages for about 17 months. It is a ripe and well-oaked red, with plenty of spice and a medium to full-bodied palate and, while approachable, it should improve in bottle. I'd wait at least one year before pulling the cork, at which time the oak will probably be better integrated. This vintage was not fully produced by Telmo, so it's kind of a transition wine where you still find a bit too much new oak. From 2010 onward this wine changes, it should be produced every year and have a significant percentage of Garnacha and less new oak, perhaps after aging in large barrels.

Ruby-red. Highly perfumed, expansive bouquet of dark berries, potpourri and smoky Indian spices, with a strong mineral quality emerging with air. Powerful yet lithe and precise on the palate, offering intensely sweet, vibrant black raspberry, vanilla and rose pastille flavors. This sweet, seamless, concentrated Rioja shows wonderful finishing energy, with smooth tannins folding effortlessly into the wine's intense fruit. A standout wine from one of the great Rioja vintages of recent years.