La Rioja Alta Vina Arana Gran Reserva 2014

Three years in barrel and three in bottle. This has amazing aromatics: sweet blackberry and black cherry fruit with dried herbs, tar and spice, as well as some hints of vanilla and coconut, and sweet tobacco, too. The palate is juicy and supple, but also quite profound, showing cherries, berries, spice, sweet herbs, some cedar and coconut from the oak, and a lovely sense of harmony and precision. It’s a ripe wine, but shows such complexity and focus, with everything pulling in the right direction. I’m just so impressed with this wine: in its style – classical Rioja – it is just about perfect, and is beginning to enter a very long drinking window. So complex and layered and refined. 96 Points – Jamie Goode, Wine Anorak

Few would dispute that La Rioja Alta is the leading quality-focused producer in Spain’s most famous wine region. Since the coming together of five growers to form the estate 130 years ago, they have produced some of the most highly regarded and longest-lived examples of Rioja. These superb wines are ready for consumption on release, but will keep many more years in bottle – decades in some cases.

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