2015 Rioja Reserva

Tasted from a 10-cl mini sample tube. 95% Tempranillo, 4% Graciano, 1% Mazuelo from 40- to 60-year-old vineyards. A dry year, early frosts, so the juice had higher acidity, higher phenolic structure. Classified as a very good vintage. One of the best of that decade, wine director Matia Calleja says, with good structure and body. Harvested at the end of September and early October. Cold maceration prior to fermentation, temperature-controlled fermentation with regular pumpover. 19 months in their hybrid French-heads, American-staves oak barrels as well as third-use French oak barrels. Aged in bottle for 17 months. TA 5.6 g/l, VA 0.7 g/l, pH 3.62, RS 1.7 g/l. Touch more leather and more savoury on the nose than the 2017, at first. Then strawberry and white florals, and, again, a bite of white pepper. The fruit is almost seductively soft – cherry and strawberry jam, crushed raspberries, pomegranate. And then there’s a shift through the length of the wine, parsing notes of dried sage, orange, cacao husk, dried hibiscus petals, fresh orange peel, dried rose bud, Seville oranges. The tannins are very slightly relaxing their grip, but the wine is still elegantly sheathed. Long and elegant and a very, very approachable rioja that is oh-too-easy to love. VGV (TC)