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WINES OF SPAIN
81
Reserva
Viña Bujanda Reserva, made of 100 percent Tempranillo, comes from the Rioja Alta and Alavesa area.
Grapes are grown in clay soil and harvested during the first week of October. The wine is then fermented
in stainless steel tanks for sixteen days and aged in oak for twenty months before it is ready to enjoy. The
wine shows a complex bouquet of tobacco, spice, and blackberry, and the palate is fresh and elegant with
a pleasant, lingering finish.
2010:
89 WS |
2009:
90 WE |
2006:
92 WA
Gran Reserva
This 100 percent Tempranillo is from estate vineyards in the Alta and Alavesa sub-regions of Rioja. The
grapes for this wine are harvested the first week of October and fermented in temperature-controlled
stainless steel tanks. Maceration is for sixteen days and aged for twenty-six months in American (70
percent) and French (30 percent) oak barrels. This wine is cherry in color with a blue rim, bright and
crystalline. It is elegant and complex with hints of woodwork, vanilla, cigar box, spices and with flavors of
blackberry, and plums in liqueur.
2007:
90 V
Designations of Age for Rioja and Ribera del Duero
Wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero are often assigned one of the following four designations
based on the time they’ve spent aging in oak and bottle. Note that aging designations in these two
DOs are stricter than those for Spanish wine in general.
Joven:
No aging requirements.
Joven wines are young,
featuring fresh, primary fruit
notes.
Crianza:
At least two years
aging, with one year in oak for
reds and six months for whites.
Reserva:
At least three years
aging, with one in oak. Whites
must spend at least two years
aging with six months in oak.
Gran Reserva:
At least five
years aging with two in oak.
Whites must spend at least four
years aging with one in oak.