Marqués De Cáceres Rioja Crianza 2017 (Spain)

Description

• French & American oak
• Toasted wood
• Red candied fruit
• Smooth tannins

Nice depth of colour with a luminous sparkle. A bouquet of fine notes of toasted wood and spices, combined with red candied fruit on a licorice base. Full-bodied on the palate with a background of ripe fruit and smooth elegant tannins. A long silky aftertaste.

A selection of mainly Tempranillo (90%) with small amounts of red Garnacha and Graciano (10%) from small plots in Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa. Low yields and old hand-harvested vines.

2017 was a slightly warmer year, with temperatures between 1.5ºC and 2ºC above the historical average. 28th April dawned with a severe frost, which greatly affected the sprouted vines, considerably reducing the quantity to be harvested. This setback, together with lower than average rainfall, resulted in a vintage with extraordinarily low yields but excellent quality.

100% manual harvest , carried out according to the development and maturity of each plot or area in the villages. The clusters are carefully destemmed prior to alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature. A prolonged maceration with the skin lasts for up to 20 days in order to extract colour, aromas and density in the mouth. Malolactic fermentation is carried out in new barrels and stainless steel tanks, depending on the plots and their origin. Once the process has been concluded, the wines are rested in barrels and racked every 6 months. 12 months in French (60%) and American (40%) oak barrels. 25% of the barrels are new oak, another 25% have been used for two wines and the other 50% have been used to rest a maximum of three to four wines. Aged in bottle for at least 1 year before marketing.