This is a really gorgeous Reserva Rioja.
This is really settled wine that is approachable and easy, with enough tannic structure and intensity to satisfy and match with rich food dishes. Dark fruit flavours of blackberry, crushed strawberry, vanilla, nutmeg and a hint of cranberry to retain palate freshness. It's really classy stuff.
The vineyards for this wine are in Azagra, right on the eastern edge of Rioja at the border with Navarra, where many international varieties have been grown very successfully. This though it Tempranillo territory - and though our chums are very much Grenache experts, they only use 15% of that, 5% of the magical Graciano with Tempranillo making up the huge, very lovely, majority. Grown on clay and limestone soils with minimum intervention and using sustainable practices, the grapes are usually picked by early October. Alway by hand.
Aged for 18 months in oak barrels, 35% of which are new, the wine strikes a brilliant balance of dark fruit, freshness from the gentle handling and a lovely, generous lick of spice form the oak. It is the Reserva version of the excellent Tradicional that we have had from De Alto since early in 2024, using a better selection of older vines and oak barrel ageing... Want to know more?!
This is gorgeous because it is made as a special project by our friends in the Manzanos winery in the Rioja Oriental subzone. Made from grapes grown in small plots selected from single vineyard sites, the care for this stuff is massive. Then it's made using gentle extraction techniques (which is quite a modern method, designed for elegance) and is aged traditionally, using various sizes of oak barrels, giving it familiarity of place and quality. The whole approach is set up to allow the really high-quality fruit selection to shine through in a delicious and recognisably 'Rioja' glass of wine.
Made by Borja Valero, who has become one of the most important wine makers in the region, this is a wine that is made for a very special Allotment friend, Celbridge native Fergal Tynan (who is probably Kildare's only Master of Wine). This is a particularly lovely project - de Alto Amo literally meaning "High Master" - or "High Love" - and is a reference to the search for the highest quality and highest altitude vineyard sites that the winery can access. And we have a lot of love for really good Reserva Rioja.
Region: Rioja
Country: Spain
Grape(s): Tempranillo, Grenache, Graciano
Style: Vegan Friendly, Smooth, Medium Bodied, Iconic, Fruity, Dark, Complex, Balanced
Best food matches: Warm Salads, Venison, Tapas, Steak, Roasts, Red Meats, Poultry, Pork, Pizza, Pasta, Lamb, Hard Cheeses, Grills, Game, Cheeses, Charcuterie, Beef, Barbecue
Alcohol: 13.5%
