Score: 92+/100
This Rioja Reserva wine by Campo Viejo is a blend of 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, and 5% Mazuelo.
Fermented in stainless steel vats at a controlled temperature of around 28ºC, it went through a maceration on skins of about 20 days to extract tannins and color.
Followed an ageing for 24 months in French oak wine barrels (80%) and American casks (20%). As regulations of the Rioja DOCa mandated, the wine was aged for a further 36 months in the bottle at the winery before it was first released.
More perspective on this wine with a review of the 2010 vintage published in February 2017: 2010 Campo Viejo Gran Rioja Reserva rating & review.
Tasting Notes
This Rioja red comes in a pretty intense dark red color, with touches of purple and oranges hues, perhaps a little evolution in the color, but still looking young and rather fresh for a 5 year-old wine.
The nose is bursting in dark-roasted aromas of cocoa, coffee liqueur, and intense vanilla. There’s massive sandal would and clove too, making it smell very spicy. The fruit is well represented by ripe cherry notes. It’s very intense, deep and powerfully oaky to smell at, in a typical classic Rioja fashion, with a wealth of depth and controlled elegance.
Round bodied palate freshened and well sustained by good acidity that makes the fresh berry flavors shine with juiciness.
The palate surprises and hits hard by the sheer flavor intensity provided by tha oaky vanilla and coconut tones, not dissimilar to the notes you’d get in a fine Bourbon, but with more fresh fruits and subtlety.
Cooked apples mary ripe pink pomegranate, there might be some floral violet notes in there too. That’s how muh a wide spectrum of flavors are in this Gran Reserva wine.
Complex, powerful yet it is very controlled with a focused tension provided by the great acidity, and outstanding quality fresh fruit characters for a wine aged in barrels for years.
Excellent Rioja wine in a classical style, just like 2010 Campo Viejo reviewed earlier, but with a fresher fruity personality adding elegance and refinement.
Enjoy 🙂
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