94+ Points Red Wines from Rioja Spain

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Rioja is one of the great wine regions of the world. Arguably the wine that put Spain on the map, the region’s red wines have become mainstays on wine lists and in wine shops across the country.

But which Rioja wine should you buy?

The three principal regions of La Rioja are Rioja Alavesa, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja with each area producing its own unique expression of Rioja wine. Most of the territory subjected to the Rioja Protected designation of origin is in the La Rioja region, even though their limits do not coincide exactly. There is a narrow strip in the left bank of the Ebro river lying in the southernmost part of Álava included in the La Rioja wine region, whereas the south-southwestern part of the La Rioja region is not a part of this Protected designation of origin.

Read full article from wikipedia.org

 

94+ Points Red Wines from Rioja Spain

All Rioja red blend wines here are above 94+ points of good reviews.

 

 

Marques de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2012

Marques de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2012 is Tempranillo wine from Rioja, Spain. It is $23.99

Marques de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2012

Marques de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2012 Winemaker Notes

Marques de Murrieta Reserva is the wine that best expresses our style, combining plots, varieties, training methods, soils, aspects, and attitudes of our Finca Ygay. They aim insistently at freshness and elegance, keeping the foundations of our style: Mediterranean character, American oak, finesse and balance, fruit and structure.
Pair with red meats, Iberian ham, grilled fish, stews, etc.

Blend: 77% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha, 8% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo

95 Points Critical Acclaimed by James Suckling

Terrific aromas of currants, berries, cinnamon and perfume. Full body, ultra-fine tannins and a dense palate. Superb length and refinement. Compact. Super length. Superb quality considering the price. More delicate and refined than the 2010. Precise.

92 Points Critical Acclaimed by The Wine Advocate

The blend of the 2012 Rioja Reserva is significantly different from previous vintages, with more Graciano and Garnacha. The blend was approximately 77% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha, 8% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. After a very dry growing season, the harvest was saved by some rains at the end of September, which allowed the grapes to reach perfect ripeness. The wine also had a slightly longer upbringing, 23 months in American oak barrels and at least nine of those months were in new oak barrels. However, it seems like the oak is better integrated than in the 2011, and the fruit is fresher. The palate has one extra point in depth, with very fine tannins and especially good freshness that gives it a sense of great harmony.

 

Bodegas Muga Seleccion Especial Reserva 2011

Bodegas Muga Seleccion Especial Reserva 2011 is Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain. It is priced at $40 retail.

Bodegas Muga Seleccion Especial Reserva 2011

Bodegas Muga Seleccion Especial Reserva 2011 Winemaker Notes

This is one of those vintages which is great to drink from the start without detracting in the least its potential for laying down for the future. These wines amaze you with their great flavor from the first sip, the seemingly precocious integration of the tannins, the freshness of their “Atlantic” features interwoven with the more mature “Mediterranean” character. If you look for the words to describe the wine we can come up with ripe fruit, without reaching the dried fruit stage, mainly small red berries and plums, followed by balsamic notes, especially mint and licorice, and then, right at the end, hints of spices in the pepper, clove and vanilla range gently coming through. In retro-olfaction spices like tobacco and vanilla make a strong impression. Then, very subtle milky nuances evolve, followed by noble leather. All perfectly integrated in glorious harmony. A very pleasant mouth-feel with the sweetness of fine lees, pastries and soft, noble tannin.

Blend: 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 7% Mazuelo and 3% Graciano

95 Points Critical Acclaimed by James Suckling

A complex nose of dried strawberries with slate and white-truffle undertones. Hints of Spanish cedar. Full body, juicy tannins and bright acidity that follows through to a long, clean and earthy finish. A great wine that shows structure and complexity. Drink or hold.

93 Points Critical Acclaimed by Wine Spectator

This red has a firm backbone and a solid texture, with harmonious flavors of plum, blackberry, licorice, cocoa and espresso. Concentrated yet graceful. Drink now through 2026.

92 Points Critical Acclaimed by The Wine Advocate

The 2011 Reserva Selección Especial, from a warmer and drier year compared with the average (as well as the previous harvest), has a similar blend as the regular Muga Reserva; it is 65% Tempranillo with 20% Garnacha, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo, and it was fermented in small vats with indigenous yeasts. The different varieties and grapes are fermented and aged separately, the first year in new oak and the second one in used barrels. 2011 is a powerful vintage for this cuvée, which now shows quite marked by toasty aromas. Warm vintages usually need longer in bottle to integrate the oak, but experience shows that it gets absorbed and in fact the evolution of this wine in bottle is very good. Even if the nose recommends to wait, the palate is very balanced, with remarkably ripe tannins for such warm year, which can sometime produce some harsh tannins. Not the case here, where the wine shows good elegance and balance. This is a very reliable cuvée, quite stable across vintages.

 

CVNE Vina Real Gran Reserva 2010

CVNE Vina Real Gran Reserva 2010 is Tempranillo wine from Rioja, Spain. It is $47

CVNE Vina Real Gran Reserva 2010

CVNE Vina Real Gran Reserva 2010 Winemaker Notes

Of a deep and shiny ruby red colour with shades of garnet, this wine shows very intense and complex on the nose where hints of this wine’s stay in oak stand out (coffee, spices, leather, toastiness) well integrated with stewed fruit and nuts. Thefirst impressions on the palate are mellow, evolving towards a powerful and structured finish with a long aftertaste. Tannins show sweet, restrained and very well integrated in the wine’s structure. It is a wine with a great ageing potential in bottle.

Pair with red meats, aged cheese and fatty fish.

94 Points Critical Acclaimed by The Wine Advocate

I was waiting to compare the 2010 Viña Real Gran Reserva with the Imperial Gran Reserva from that same vintage, as the comparison promised to be fascinating. This red blend from the Alavesa part of Rioja produced in its own winery is 95% Tempranillo and the rest Graciano; it fermented in stainless steel and matured in oak barrel for two years. The wine shows superb balance and harmony, with very subtle aromas of spices and flowers. It is one of those noses that make you go back to the wine over and over again, as it developed subtle nuances every time you smelled it. The palate feels a bit light compared with the Contino, which has more clout. I was going back and forth and at the end, I believe the three have a very similar quality level; what’s best is that each has its own style and personality.

92 Points Critical Acclaimed by Wine Enthusiast

This is a young but excellent gran reserva, so it’s gritty-smelling in its youth, with aromas of blackberry and cassis. Racy acidity pushes the focus on the palate towards the upper tier, while flavors of lactic oak, lemon peel, tobacco and mocha share the stage with plum and berry fruit. Finishing flavors of vanilla and raw oak are supported by good acidity and just enough pulp. Drink through 2030.

90 Points Critical Acclaimed by Wine Spectator

This lively, supple red delivers dried cherry, licorice, tea and spicy flavors, supported by light tannins and orange peel acidity. Not muscular, but energetic and focused. Drink now through 2020. 600q cases imported.

 

Artadi La Poza de Ballesteros 2013

Artadi La Poza de Ballesteros 2013 is also Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain. It is $145.

Artadi La Poza de Ballesteros 2013

Artadi La Poza de Ballesteros 2013 Winemaker Notes

Made with 100% Tempranillo sourced from a single vineyard in Elvillar, laid on deep clay-limestone soil.

94 Points Critical Acclaimed by James Suckling

Exuberant aromas with blackberries, cacao and hints of graphite. Dried flowers as well. Polished, superfine tannins and a clean and concentrated finish. Single vineyard. This is racy and refined. A lot of wood tannin underneath, but this will come out beautifully with time.

92 Points Critical Acclaimed by The Wine Advocate

Warmer vineyards seem to have worked quite well in a cool vintage like 2013, as is the case of the 2013 La Poza de Ballesteros. The wine was clearly marked by the vintage, with some peppery notes, quite austere, López de Lacalle called it ‘static’–I’d say more austere and a little backward, and with nice complexity and depth in the finish. This is less exuberant and Mediterranean than in other vintages, but with less acidity than other wines from 2013.

 

Benjamin Romeo La Cueva del Contador 2013

Benjamin Romeo La Cueva del Contador 2013 is Tempranillo wine from Rioja, Spain. It is $90.

Benjamin Romeo La Cueva del Contador 2013

Benjamin Romeo La Cueva del Contador 2013 Winemaker Notes

La Cueva del Contador 2012 is bright blackberry color with upperlayer. The nose is fine and deep. Highlight the red and black fruit with spicy, mineral and balsamic notes, also herbs touches that come from the Garnacha variety. The wood is very well integrated.In the mouth it is elegant, fine and well balanced in terms of maturity and freshness. Final is long and powerful.

94 Points Critical Acclaimed by The Wine Advocate

There is no Contador and none of the other top wines were produced in 2013, only this cuvée and Predicador were bottled from that vintage. So the 2013 La Cueva del Contador got the best grapes they could produce in that challenging year. It is pure Tempranillo fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in new French oak barrels for 18 months. It has a clean, perfumed, subtle nose, very floral and sleek, polished and insinuating. It’s really aromatic and open, with notes of spices (curry, nutmeg), aromatic herbs and wild berries; it turns more and more balsamic with time in the glass. The palate is silky, with an earthy touch, elegant but with personality, with sophisticated tannins and good acidity. Balanced and elegant. This is a great wine whose only problem is having a big brother called Contador. Wait, there is no Contador in 2013… 11,000 bottles produced.

 

Palacios Remondo Rioja Propiedad 2011

Palacios Remondo Rioja Propiedad 2011 is Grenache wine from Rioja, Spain. It is $45.

Palacios Remondo Rioja Propiedad 2011

Palacios Remondo Rioja Propiedad 2011 Winemaker Notes

With sensuous notes of orange peel, red currants, nectarines and black cherries on the nose and palate, winemaker Alvaro Palacios describes this wine as being fleshy and fluid with a soft aftertaste that invokes a hill covered with chamomile and rosemary flowers as its origin. Containing well-integrated tannins and a long finish, this wine is meant to drink now or age up to ten years.

96 Points Critical Acclaimed by Decanter

This 100% Garnacha has aromas of roses and liquorice on the nose then a classic, linear palate whose tannins show steadily increasing grip alongside redcurrants and pink grapefruit.

92 Points Critical Acclaimed by The Wine Advocate

The 2011 Propiedad, from the third consecutive dry vintage, is now pure destemmed Garnacha fermented in oak vats and aged in oak barrels for 14 months. It is surprisingly darker than its siblings, with ripe aromas of red and black fruits, fine-grained tannins and good acidity that would require a little bit of time in bottle to get better integrated. 40,000 bottles were produced. Drink 2015-2019.

91 Points Critical Acclaimed Wine Enthusiast

Closed and in need of air at first, this takes on a ripe, medicinal, almost candied red-fruit nose. Next up is a full, wide-bodied palate with chunky plum and raspberry flavors. This old-vines Garnacha is ripe, tasty and all about the fruit.

 

Best Buy Rioja Red Wine

Great red wine doesnt have to alway expensive, we pick Vina Harminia Crianza 2013 as best buy Priorate red wine. It is only $16 and earned 95 points from Decanter.

 

Vina Herminia Crianza 2013

Vina Herminia Crianza 2013 is Tempranillo wine from Rioja, Spain. It is only $16.

Vina Herminia Crianza 2013

Vina Herminia Crianza 2013 Winemaker Notes

Garnet red with cherry and ripe-cherry tones in the glass. A lively, clear color with high-intensity. Thie wine displays hearty, complex and fruity aromas, with rich tones of dark fruits, good oak notes, cherry and plum, balanced and elegant oak. Round on the palate, viscous and creamy, rich and voluminous, long and balanced finish with plenty of sweet tannins.

Blend 85% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha

95 Points Critical Acclaimed by Decanter

An elegant and intense nose comprising black fruit, blackberry and herbs, with a real medicinal edge is followed deliciously by a well-structured palate of licorice, plums, tobacco and black fruit notes, which also has round meaty tannins, a lovely texture and a beautiful long finish.

 

Other Great Red Wines From Spain

If you wonder what are those great red wines from Spain? Check out these posts:

 

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