LAN Reserva 2017

A complex Rioja Reserva from Tempranillo and Mazuelo grapes grown in prime sites in Rioja Alta and Alavesa. Aged in hybrid barrels with American oak staves and French oak heads, this wine balances bright red fruit flavours with a delicious spiciness.

This wine is intense garnet in colour. Aromas of juicy strawberries, cherries and blackberries are married with notes of vanilla and spices from oak ageing and subtle earthy hints from bottle age. The palate is exceptionally well-structured, with velvety tannins and a vibrant acidity which carries the complex flavours onto the lingering finish.

Founded in 1972, Bodegas LAN lies in the heart of Rioja Alta and boasts one of the most spectacular single-vineyard sites in the region: Viña Lanciano. The name LAN comes from the initials of the three provinces of the Rioja Designation of Origin: Logroño, Álava and Navarra. María Barúa has been the head winemaker and technical director since 2002, and brings both scientific expertise (with an academic background in chemistry in addition to her oenology degree) and local knowledge (having been born and raised in Rioja). Together with her young and energetic team, María focuses on using the latest advances in winemaking to ‘express the virtues of the land’.

The Tempranillo and Mazuelo grapes are sourced from selected vineyards within the Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa subzones from vines with an average age of 30-40 years. These vines produce lower yields of grapes with great concentration of flavour, which can stand up to extended periods of ageing in oak. The Sierra Cantabria mountains shelter the vineyards from the worst of the Atlantic weather systems and the vines thrive on a combination of calcareous and clay soils.

The 2016 vintage in Rioja began with a cold winter, followed by a cool and rainy spring which replenished soil water reserves and sustained the vines through the hot and dry summer that followed. Good climatic conditions during the last stages of ripening provided very healthy grapes with an excellent balance between intensity of flavour and acidity. Harvest was around one week later than usual and the berries were small, due to the lack of rainfall during the summer, this resulted in wines with extraordinary depth of colour.

Upon arrival at the winery, the grapes were destemmed and gently crushed. Fermentation took place in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks at 28-30°C and lasted for around three weeks, during this time regular pump overs ensured optimum extraction of colour and flavour. Following fermentation, the wine was transferred to hybrid French and American oak barrels (American oak staves with French oak heads, around 25% of which were new) where it underwent malolactic fermentation and 18 months ageing. After bottling, the wine was aged for a further 20 months in the Bodegas LAN cellars before release.