Alegre Valganon Rioja Tinto 2015 (JG 93) (WA 91)

“The 2015 Rioja from Alegre Valgañón is only the fifth vintage for the husband and wife team of Oscar Alegre and Eva Valgañón, who produce a small number of cases from the three hectares of vines that they farm in the far western end of the Rioja region. Or sort of their fifth vintage, as they made and bottled a bit of wine in their inaugural vintage of 2010, then lost both 2011 and 2012 when the cellars where their tanks were stored in were inadvertently blended in with the wines from the winery where they were storing their tanks. They did not bottle anything in the difficult vintage of 2013 and 2014 was their first to get rolling again after the small quantity of 2010 that they bottled. Their vineyards sit at an altitude of 580 meters above sea level and this is one of the coolest corners of Rioja, with their blended Rioja made from a blend of seventy-five percent tempranillo and twenty-five percent garnacha. The wines are aged quite uniquely for Rioja, in older French barriques and demi-muids, as the couple wishes to make wines in the classic manner that predates the arrival of the French winemakers to Rioja in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Their 2015 Tinto is excellent, offering up a deep and complex nose of black cherries, Rioja spice tones, a bit of espresso, a fine base of soil, cigar smoke and a touch of cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and moderately tannic today, with an excellent core, fine tangy acids and excellent focus and grip on the nascently complex finish. This is approachable today, but is really built to cellar and will not properly blossom without five or six years of bottle age. It is an excellent wine from an exciting new winemaking couple in the firmament of old school Rioja.” John Gilman 93 points

“The red 2015 Tinto, from a very warm and ripe vintage, is a blend of Tempranillo from Fonzaleche, Villalba and Sajazarra with 20% Garnacha from Cárdenas and Tudelilla, fermented with some 15% of the stems and indigenous yeasts. It matured in the fermentation vessels and a combination of 225- and 500-liter oak barrels. It's a classical, old-style, traditional young Rioja with ripe fruit, some herbal twists and some herbal rusticity on the palate, with dusty tannins and a combination of fruit and earthy notes.” Wine Advocate 91 Points