Supple, full-flavoured Rioja Reserva, drinking beautifully.

Tasting Notes 

Reservas are only produced in years of exceptional quality - and from the most select vineyards.

Nose

Aromas of bramble fruit with spice and lightly floral notes

Palate

On the palate, plum and ripe blackberry fruit flavours combine with ample acidity, minerality, and earthy notes. Tannins are smooth and supple as you would expect from an eight-year-old wine, and it is drinking beautifully

Production

Reservas are only produced in years of exceptional quality - and from the most select vineyards. The Tempranillo is sourced from La Pasada, and the Graciano from La Montesa vineyard. After a long maceration, the wine spends 12 months in 60% American and 40% French oak (both used and new), followed by 24 months in bottle.

Producer

Bodegas Ontañón is a 5th generation family-owned and run winery in Rioja Baja (now Rioja Oriental). Here Raquel, Rubén and Maria Pérez Cuevas continue their father Gabriel's work to develop Bodegas Ontañón into one of the most highly-regarded wineries in Rioja. Ontañón has vast swathes of vineyard in this part of Rioja. Whilst wine production in the region is typically very dependent on contracts with grape growers, the Pérez Cuevas family has seen fit to invest heavily in the purchase of its land and vines. Its 250ha is a testament to the importance it places on controlling grape quality.

The family's vineyards sit high in the Sierra Yerga mountains in the prestigious region surrounding Quel, defying misconceptions that Rioja Baja is one of the lesser sub-regions within Rioja. Many of their vineyards are planted at altitudes on a par with, or above, those in Rioja Alta and Alavesa; (La Pasada is their highest vineyard at 800m above sea level, planted in 1979 it is used for Reserva and Gran Reserva wines). The hot and dry Mediterranean climate allows for consistent ripening of the grapes with little disease and this has enabled them to pursue organic production across 57 hectares of vines.

Sustainability

Currently run by the fifth generation of the Pérez Cuevas family to carry on the tradition of grape growing in the southern part of Rioja, they take great pride in maintaining their vineyards in the most sustainable manner possible as it is their land that supports their family’s craft. As well as farming organically and producing a range of organic wines, Bodegas Ontañón employs a range of other sustainable processes.

These include controlled irrigation systems to reduce water usage and evaporation; planting vineyards in cooler, well-ventilated areas to reduce irrigation requirements and phytosanitary treatments; using plant/grass cover in vineyards to improve soil texture, to reduce tractor working hours and to lower carbon dioxide emissions; using environmentally friendly phytosanitary products that break down quickly and harmlessly; planting several hectares of pine forest near the vineyards in Ausejo and tidying and maintaining the oak forest near the vineyards in Quel. They are a carbon-neutral operation, meaning the facilities no longer emit CO2 to the atmosphere. The watering systems in the vineyards are supplied through solar power. It encourages its workers to carpool from its winery to its vineyards to reduce emissions.

Awards

• Silver at the 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards (2015 Vintage)

Specifications

A fantastic Rioja with a touch of bling about it. Roberto Rodriguez calls this a ‘super-Crianza’, because he shepherds it from vineyard to bottle as if it were a Reserva, hand-picking the most flavour-intensive berries from high altitude vineyards, lavishing upon them the finest, new French oak barrels that money can buy and treating the wine to a long élevage.

Tasting Notes 

Colour

Intense deep red colour with purple hues

Nose

Intense aromas, coffee, leather and spice and a firm concentration of black fruit sit alongside hints of ripe red fruit and sweet spiced sensations over a background of vanilla and eucalyptus.

Palate

A flavoursome wine - fruit forward with sweet tannins and a lovely long finish.  An energetic wine brimming with personality, it fills the mouth with fruity flavours, wrapped in silky tannins to give a delicate, elegant, and mouth-watering wine. Persistent, with a long, wide and balanced finish.

Producer

Palacio is known as a pioneer winery for introducing the bases of modern wine to the D.O.Ca. Rioja. It is run by Cosme Palacio Bermejillo, an entrepreneur who took over the family winery in 1894 to make it the most advanced in Rioja Alavesa. He is still working today with his philosophy that tradition and modernity go hand in hand.

The Cosme Palacio Crianza grapes come from old vines of over 40 years old that are planted in clay-calcareous soils at an altitude of over 600 metres above sea level. The grapes are manually collected in 15 kg boxes and the fruit is selected in the vineyard.

Once the Cosme Palacio Crianza grapes reach the winery, they are destemmed but not crushed, and then undergo a long maceration. It then ferments in stainless steel tanks with automatic temperature control, pump overs and micro-oxygenation. Malolactic fermentation takes place in French oak barrels. Aging happens over 12 months in new 225-litre French oak barrels. The wine is then refined in the bottle for a minimum of 12 months before it is launched on the market.

Cosme Palacio Crianza is a red wine from the highest altitude vineyards in the winery. This is reflected in the wine’s good concentration and acidity.

Critical Acclaim

Tim Atkin MW: “Made and marketed as a kind of super Crianza, Roberto Rodríguez's pure Tempranillo all comes from Sonsierra vineyards over 600 metres. Dense, perfumed and textured, with lovely violet scents, fine-grained tannins, subtle wood and the freshness of its high-altitude sources. 14% alc. 2022-2029.” 93 points

• Bronze Medal 2021 IWC

Specifications

One of the smallest and most prestigious wineries in Spain.

Marrying Tempranillo with 10% Graciano, it's compact, focused, and well-balanced, with crunchy black cherry and blackberry fruit framed by spicy, aromatic oak.

Tasting Notes 

Aged for 24 months in American and French oak. 

Nose

Deep violet with chocolate and vanilla

Palate

Compact focused, and well-balanced, with crunchy black cherry and blackberry fruit mocha, soft cinnamon, and smooth vanilla framed by spicy, aromatic oak.

Producer

Valserrano is a long established family Bodega that lies in the best part of the region, on the limestone ridges of the Alavesa area in the Rioja Alta near Haro. It is based on the same principal as a good French Château which is to use fruit only from their own vineyards, set rigorous standards in the cellars and, following fermentation in stainless steel, they age the wine in oak part of which is renewed each year. The wines have elegance and pungency combined with the soft spicy allure that only well made Tempranillo can offer. They are very good indeed and have received really high score from renowned wine critics

Vineyards

Valserrano estate lies on 65 hectares of vineyards that belong to the family. The domaine is planted with 80% of Tempranillo, the basis of any good Rioja wine and Mazuelo, Garnacha, Graciano and Viura.

The family recently planted a vineyard with Maturana red and another with Chardonnay to see how these minority varieties perform in the Rioja Alavesa. Once fermented, their wine mature in underground natural cellars over 200 years old.

Accolades

• Received 92 points at Decanter’s Affordable Excellence Red Rioja Tasting Panel, November 2022
• 93 points Tim Atkin's Rioja 2022 Special Report

Specifications