The grapes for the 2021 Reserva (sold as Crianza in Spain), mostly Tempranillo with some Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano, were picked late in a cooler year when they finished the harvest the 20th of October, with plenty of times for the grapes to develop full aromas and flavors and complete ripeness. It fermented destemmed and lightly crushed in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, separating qualities, villages and soils, and matured in 80% French and 20% American oak barrels, 20% of them new, for 24 months, with racking every eight to nine months. It's a textbook example of their style in a very good year, with power, concentration and clout, elegance and freshness. It was a very harmonious year; the cycle was long and the tannins ripened to perfection. It's terrific and more so for the volume they produce (984,000 bottles of it). It was fined with egg whites and bottled in January 2024.
94 points, Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate (Feb 2025)
A plush yet fresh Rioja showing blackberries, dark plums, fine spices, cocoa powder and a touch of roasted red chile peppers. Medium- to full-bodied and juicy, with firm, fine-grained tannins and a long, bright finish showing some graphite, blackberries and dark chocolate. Tempranillo, garnacha, graciano and mazuelo. Drink now or hold.
93 points, Zekun Shuai, James Suckling (Aug 2024)
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