Altanza Familia 2017

The Bodegas Altanza winery was founded with clear aims: to produce quality wines with a more lively style than the classic Rioja wines and to sell them at a fair price, respecting the essence of Rioja but also introducing new technology into the wine-making process... Altanza always offers expressive wines, elegant and pleasant, with a good combination of wood and fruit and a clear-cut personality. The Lealtanza Reserva Selección Familiar is a limited edition wine, and a clear example of the philosophy of this winery; powerful, elegant, and delicately fruity, this Rioja wine is the sublime result of Tempranillo grapes and its aging in French oak. Harvested from vines over 50 years old, the grapes undergo a malolactic fermentation in French oak vats before the wine is stood to age in oak for a particularly long time — a year and a half. Following this the wine then enjoys a second ageing in 22,000-litre French oak vats to homogenize it before bottling. Its surprising cherry colour with maroon highlights is a giveaway to what we are about to discover; rich notes of ripe red and black fruit, picota cherries, sweet spices, liquorice, and smoky hints of its time spent in wood. Its strong clear taste on the palate shows us its personality and vigour, and the acidity which defines this fresh and flavoursome wine. The hints of wood are respectful and sufficient, leaving the fruit to the front.