Valenciso Graciano 2019 (6 Bottles) Rioja, Spain

$572.00 GST Included

AUSTRALIA WIDE SHIPPING INCLUDED

This rare but fine and perfumed Rioja grape comprises barely 2% of plantings in La Rioja Alta. Valenciso are lucky enough to farm several old-vine Graciano parcels based around the villages Haro and Ollauri. Due to the cooler, Atlantic-influenced climate of northern Rioja, Graciano can have to fight to ripen fully, and hence this wine is only released in exceptional vintages. 2019 was one of those years, when the long growing season afforded slow and even ripening conditions.

This 2019 is just the second release, yet it’s already well up to the quality of this estate’s other releases. Naturally fermented in concrete vats and aged for 24 months in low-impact Russian oak, it’s a cracking showcase for the dark-fruited personality, freshness and structure that define the variety. A top-drawer, serious Rioja and made to age, with sweet tobacco, balsamic and plummy intensity.

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Description

ABOUT VALENCISO WINERY

Valenciso (val-en-THEECE-oh) was founded for the 1998 vintage by Luis VALENtín and Carmen EnCISO (hence Valen-ciso), Rioja natives with extensive experience in producing quality Rioja wines. Their objective was to produce a single wine of the highest quality and authenticity, released as Reserva.

Only the best Tempranillo grapes are used, from mature, low-yielding vineyards. Of the available fruit from the grower-partners, only a small percentage is selected. Careful harvesting is timed to capture the intensity of the fruit, while avoiding over-ripeness or excessive alcohol levels. Aromatic volume rather than physical weight – in the manner of French Burgundy and the greatest Rioja Altas of the past – is the Valenciso ideal.

Valenciso’s impeccable sense of proportion demonstrates rare winemaking maturity. Perfect balance offers early accessibility, while the evident structure, fresh acidity and fruit intensity promise many years of positive bottle evolution. This is as close as Spain gets to the wines of Burgundy, pure mouth perfume.

It is at once classic Rioja Alta Reserva, yet somehow more polished, more alive, with the only innovation being the use of French as opposed to American oak. And, as always, the wine is better for it!

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