Vivanco Rioja Reserva 2017

	Refined top quality Tempranillo
	Good balance between traditional and modern winemaking
	90+ scores in the international wine magazines
	Wonderful accompaniment to lamb and game

Tasting note Vivanco Rioja Reserva

Beautiful, complex Rioja, full red in color, refined scent with ripe fruit tones, dosed oak and a light spiciness. The taste is full, round and balanced and ends with mild tannin.

Description

Rafael Vivanco has been named one of the ten best modern winemakers of the Rioja by the English wine writer Tim Atkin MW. His wines are flawless, have ripe fruit tones and Rafael is reluctant to use toasted new oak. Rafael learned his modern way of winemaking in Bordeaux, where he studied oenology and gained practical experience. Its reserve is made as if it were a grand cru. The tempranillo and graciano grapes (10%) are picked by hand and selected for a 2nd time on a sorting belt on arrival in the cellar. Only the very best part of the harvest is lightly pressed. The juice then travels without the harmful pumping, using gravity to the small French oak casks where fermentation begins. After both fermentations, the reserva matures for another 24 months on a mix of French and American oak and after bottling, the wine rests in the bottle for another 24 months before Vivanco sells the wine. A careful and costly way of working that produces a top quality Rioja.