Rioja Bordón

Medium deep ruby red with an aged rim. Traditional long oak-aged aromas in a pure style with plum, cherry, dried herbs, tobacco, and oak-derived vanilla and spice. Soft and supple texture with good volume, a fine level of freshness with supple and complex red fruit flavours and a long lingering finish.

This is classic Gran Reserva Rioja at a very reasonable price. The winery Bodegas Franco-Espanolas dates to 1890 and is steeped in traditional Rioja values, so if that's your thing, this wine delivers. The blend of 70% tempranillo, 20% garnacha, and 10% mazuelo is aged in American oak barrels of medium to intense toast for 36 months. Once bottled, it gets a further 24 months of ageing in the cellar. Fresh and full bodied, this is a terrific bottle of tempranillo that sings Rioja with a silky smooth, spicy ripe red berry complexity that pushes long into the finish. Ready to drink. Rioja Bordón has a great history and remains one of the great wineries of La Rioja. It was founded in 1890 after phylloxera devastated the French vineyards and French winemakers moved to Spain. Frederick Anglade Saurat from Bordeaux established Bodegas Franco-Españolas, which was the merger of his French heritage (Franco) and Spain, the location of the winery (Españolas). In the 1960s, the winery was renamed Rioja Bordón.