[A legend in Rioja with numerous high and even full marks from major wine reviews]
[The oldest winery in Rioja + the oldest family + the largest organic winery in Alavesa]
[Ranked 2nd in the world's best vineyards and best wineries for 3 consecutive years]
[Long-aged old vines Gran Reserva]
[Wine Enthusiast 96 pts] [James Suckling 95 pts]
[Vinous 91 pts] [Wine Spectator 91 pts]
[Vivino 4.2]
ZTSP001A - Marques de Riscal Rioja Gran Reserva 2018
Special price: $460/bottle
Producing area/level: Spain/ Rioja
Grape varieties: 95% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano
Alcohol content: 14.5%
This Gran Reserva wine is aged between 30 and 80 years. The old vine grapes are aged in French oak barrels for 28 months, showing a complex and rich aroma. The fruit and slightly toasted aromas are perfectly balanced, with a slight balsamic vinegar flavor. The taste is smooth and full, harmonious with the fruit, with rich tannins, round and lasting.
【Wine Enthusiast 96 pts】
This ruby-colored wine has a bouquet of wild blackberry, black olive paste and dried hillside herbs. A layer of velvety tannins swaddles flavors of black plum, raspberry, violet, cocoa bean and fresh sage that melt into a long, satisfying finish. Drink through 2038.
【James Suckling 95 pts】
Excellent depth and complexity here, starting from the nose that’s rather more introverted yet savory in nature, showing subtle vanilla spices, dried oranges, peppercorns, dark mushrooms and berries. Fluid, nicely fruity and intense, with fine spices and nice flesh in the middle. Lengthy finish, lasting for a minute. Drink or hold.
【Vinous 91 pts】
The 2018 Gran Reserva Marqués de Riscal is a blend of 95% Tempranillo and 5% Graciano, sourced from Rioja Alavesa. Showing a garnet hue, the balsamic nose also features vanilla and cedar notes, accompanied by blackberry and herbal hints. Dry, juicy and bold on the palate, the fine-grained reactive tannins add texture to aclingy mouthfeel.
【Marques de Riscal】
With a history of over 160 years, Marques de Riscal is the oldest winery in Rioja and is still owned by the same family. Hurtado de Amézaga is also the oldest family in Rioja. The first Rioja in history was bottled by Marques de Riscal in 1862. A few years after its production, it has won numerous awards and became the first non-French wine to win the highest honor Diploma of Honor at the Bordeaux World Expo in 1895. It has been a top Rioja legendary winery from the beginning.
Marqués de Riscal is the first classic that brought top French technology and grapes to Rioja and proved it. The name Marqués de Riscal was originally a hereditary noble title in Spain. It was first awarded by Philip V to Baltasar Hurtado de Amézaga, a lieutenant general who served as the governor of Malaga, for his outstanding performance in office and battle. In 1858, D. Guillermo Hurtado de Amézaga, the fifth generation, established several wineries, but it is generally believed that Camilo Hurtado de Amézaga, the sixth generation son, was the driving force. When he settled in Bordeaux after studying, he was commissioned by the Spanish provincial government to invite a winemaker to Rioja to teach the locals the winemaking technology of Bordeaux, France, so he invited Jean Pineau of Château Lanessan at that time, and introduced 9,000 French grapevines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Pinot Noir. It is believed that Camilo inherited his father Guillermo's winery in 1858 after Jean Pineau's cooperation with the grape growers ended. He invited Jean Pineau and named the winery Herederos del Marqués de Riscal (Herederos means heirs).
This winery currently has up to 900 hectares of vineyards, 540 hectares in Rioja and 350 hectares in Rueda. It is committed to switching to organic cultivation, believing that it can make the grapevines more adaptable to the current climate change environment, and also bring about a healthier metabolism and a more complex root system, so that the finished product can more faithfully reflect the terroir and have higher quality. Among them, all the vineyards in Rueda are certified organic, and 370 hectares in Rioja are also certified. It is the largest organic winery in Rioja Alavesa, accounting for 25% of the organic vineyards in Alavesa.
With this configuration, Marques de Riscal also pursues the sustainability of healthy old vines. It already has more than 500 hectares of old vines in Alavesa, making it the winery with the most old vines in Rioja. It has also invited a professional team from Italy to implement the latest pruning method Simonit and Sirch, which is better for grapevines. The use of natural yeast and less sulfur dioxide makes the aroma of the wine more pure, extroverted and complex, which has made Marques de Riscal even more successful in recent years, and it has been selected as the second best vineyard and best winery in the world for three consecutive years. This is all because of the winery building "City of Wine", which is now a tourist landmark in Rioja. This modern landmark winery was designed and completed in 2006 by Frank O. Gehry, the most important contemporary architect known as the "Picasso of architecture".
