La Rioja Alta, Viña Arana, Rioja Gran Reserva, Spain 2015

“The 2015 Viña Arana Gran Reserva, which was a Reserva until 2011, wants to showcase a new Gran Reserva style that combines freshness and joy with intensity, sophistication and aging potential through a blend of Tempranillo from Rodezno with 5% Graciano from Fuenmayor. The grapes were put through optical sorting and fermented in stainless steel for 19 days, and the wine matured in American oak barrels for three years with rackings every six months. This is the classical Haro style of Rioja Claret. They found that some special vintages of this wine behaved like a Gran Reserva, with a style that was closer to their 904. So, they wanted to make this consistent from vintage to vintage, a new a style of Gran Reserva, easier to understand than the 904 or 890. From 2012, the wine changes and they replaced the Mazuelo that was used in the past with Graciano, which they think is a grape very apt for Gran Reserva wines. I saw the wine with the 2015 vintage, a more developed nose with tertiary notes and some funkiness. They don’t want this to be the small brother of 904. It’s the entry level for Gran Reserva wines, for a younger generation; it’s fresher and less complex but with good aging potential. In a year when they don’t produce 904, the grapes would go to Viña Arana. The palate reveals quite a lot of tannin and a dry finish. 80,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in December 2019.”-92WA, 2022-2028

The grapes are harvested by hand in boxes, with a first selection of bunches in the vineyard, starting with Tempranillo followed 12 days later by Graciano. The grapes are transported to the winery in refrigerated vehicles to preserve their integrity. After a second screening on the optical selection table, alcoholic fermentation (at 27ºC) and malolactic fermentation are carried out naturally.

They selected the best lots to be aged for three years in barrels, always American oak and made in-house, with an average age of 4.5 years. Six traditional rackings were carried out from barrel to barrel by candlelight, to manually separate the sediment and avoid aggressive filtering.