2016 La Montesa, Crianza, Palacios Remondo, Rioja, Spain

2016 La Montesa, Crianza, Palacios Remondo, Rioja, Spain

Product: 20161237665
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2016 La Montesa, Crianza, Palacios Remondo, Rioja, Spain

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Description

This is Rioja – but not as you know it. Made from over 95 percent Garnacha and from the Rioja Oriental at the easternmost point of this region, it is pure, elegant and utterly drinkable. The unique freshness in this wine comes from the fascinating La Montesa vineyard which is planted at 550 metres’ altitude in the foothills of Mt Yerga. In addition to this, the purity and richness of sweet red and black berry fruit is testament to the huge amount of focus and attention that the famed Álvaro Palacios and his team put into each of the vines throughout the growing season. This is a Rioja that will not cloud your sense on the first sip, but instead will leave them invigorated and intrigued.
Catriona Felstead MW, Buyer (November 2019)

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate93+/100
I returned to the 2016 La Montesa once it had been in bottle for almost eight months. It has all the rosemary, thyme and aromatic plants in the Monte Yerga in Alfaro. It has a note of incense. It's super juicy Garnacha with citrus freshness. It's incredible to have this quality at this price and almost unbelievable that they produced 690,000 bottles of it. A steal!
Luis Gutiérrez - 28/06/2019 Read more
Wine Spectator90/100
This polished red offers cherry, tangerine and vanilla flavors, with a fruity sweetness, backed by gentle tannins and sweet-tart acidity. Not a big wine, but harmonious and graceful. Tempranillo, Garnacha and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2024. 53,000 cases made, 13,000 cases imported. — TM
James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (September 2019) Read more
Decanter92/100
The homecoming of Alvaro Palacios was greeted with fanfare and a reappraisal of his family’s winemaking style. Now the grapes are sourced from higher in the hills, yields are lower and oaking is minimal. The result if fresh and pure, a symphony of red fruit with a backdrop of soft spice and silk.
Simon Field MW, Decanter (February 2020) Read more

About this WINE

Bodegas Palacios Remondo

Bodegas Palacios Remondo

Bodegas Palacios Remondo is based in Alfaro in the Rioja Oriental. This old family firm has been revitalised by the arrival of Alvaro Palacios who has already made his name, starting from scratch, with his extraordinary Priorat wines.

He has since returned to the family property in Rioja Oriental, and in a very short space of time, has decreased production by 60% and increased quality by a far higher factor. The most Southerly of the Rioja vineyards, Oriental centres on the rich silty soils of the River Ebro, its best vineyards, such as this, at quite considerable altitude (550 metres).

Placet is a beautifully refined, balanced, lightly perfumed white Rioja - made in oak but without the influence of new wood. The reds offer a range of options across different price ranges. The Vendimia is exuberantly juicy, for immediate consumption.

The Crianza La Montesa has a glossy feel to an otherwise traditional style. A 90-hectare plot with vines up to 550 metres of altitude, Montesa is fermented in large oak vats then aged for 10 months in French barriques, 50% of which are new. The make-up of the blend varies according to the vintage; despite the majority shareholding, as one might expect, of Tempranillo and Garnacha, each year there is correspondingly more Mazuelo and Graciano, both adding interest. The wine has complex flavours with spice and tapenade, tar and licorice in addition to the blackberry, cassis and loganberry which are the classic hallmarks of Tempranillo .

The flagship however is Propriedad, a wonderful example of modern winemaking, using new French oak yet really letting both the fruit and the terroir express themselves.

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Rioja

Rioja

Rioja is known primarily for its reds although it also makes white wines from the Viura and Malvasia grapes and rosés mainly from Garnacha. Most wineries (bodegas) have their own distinct red wine formula, but are normally a combination of Tempranillo, Garnacha and sometimes Graciano. Other red varieties recently approved into the Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) regulations are the little-known Maturana Tinta, Maturana Parda, and Monastel (not to be confused with Monastrell). The most important of these by far is the king of native Spanish varieties, Tempranillo, which imbues the wines with complex and concentrated fruit flavours.

The Garnacha, meanwhile, bestows its wines with warm, ripe fruit and adds an alcohol punch. Graciano is an améliorateur grape (one that is added, often in small proportions, to add a little something to the final blend) and is found mainly in Reserva and Gran Reserva wines, albeit in small quantities (two to five percent), adding freshness and aroma, and enhancing the wines' ageing potential.

Crianza wines are aged for one year in oak followed by maturation for one year in bottle before being released for sale. Reservas must undergo a minimum of three years’ ageing before release, at least one of which should be in oak casks. Finally, Gran Reservas, which are only produced in the finest vintages, must spend at least five years maturing, of which at least two must be in oak.

Geographically, Rioja is divided in to three districts: Alavesa, Alta and Baja. Rioja Alavesa lies in the northwest of the La Rioja region in the Basque province of Álava. Along with Rioja Alta, it is the heartland of the Tempranillo grape. Rioja Alta, to the north-west and south of the Ebro River in the province of La Rioja, stretches as far as the city of Logroño. Elegance and poise is the hallmark of wines made here with Rioja Alta Tempranillo. Mazuelo (Carignan) is occasionally added to wines from this area to provide tannins and colour. Rioja Baja, located to the south-east, is the hottest of the three districts and specialises in Garnacha.

Rioja has witnessed a broad stylistic evolution over the years. The classic Riojas pioneered by Murrieta and Riscal in the 19thcentury were distinguished by long oak-barrel-ageing whereas the modern style, represented by Marqués de Cáceres since 1970, showcases the fruit and freshness of Tempranillo, keeping oak ageing to the legal minimum. The post-modern school that emerged in the late 1990s from producers like Palacios Remondo and Finca Allende concentrate on making wines from old vines or specific vineyard plots to accentuate the terroir, and using larger proportions of minority varietals such as Graciano.

The alta expression wines, pioneered by Finca Allende (among others) and later taken up by almost every other producer in Rioja, represent the newest flagship category in Rioja. Alongside the traditional Gran Reservas, alta expression wines are limited production and come from low-yielding vines, often from a single vineyard, and are hand-picked. Excellent examples of this style are Artadi's Pagos Viejos and El Pison.

However, modernisation has not held back the continuation of successful traditional styles as well. Happily long-established houses such La Rioja Alta, CVNE and Marques de Vargas continue to make graceful, old style wines better than ever before.

White Rioja is typically produced by the Viura grape which must comprise at least 51 percent of the blend; the rest can be made up by other, recently-authorised varieties, namely Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Verdejo, as well as the native Maturana Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco, and Turruntés (not to be mistaken for Torrontés).

Recommended Producers:
Finca Allende, Amezola de la Mora, Artadi, CVNE, Marqués de Vargas, Palacios Remondo, La Rioja Alta, Murrieta.

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Grenache/Garnacha

Grenache/Garnacha

Grenache (Noir) is widely grown and comes in a variety of styles. Believed to originate in Spain, it was, in the late 20th century, the most widely planted black grape variety in the world. Today it hovers around seventh in the pecking order. It tends to produce very fruity, rich wines that can range quite widely in their level of tannin.

In many regions – most famously the Southern Rhône, where it complements Syrah and Mourvèdre, among other grapes – it adds backbone and colour to blends, but some of the most notable Châteauneuf du Pape producers (such as Château Rayas) make 100 percent Grenache wines. The grape is a component in many wines of the Languedoc (where you’ll also find its lighter-coloured forms, Grenache Gris and Blanc) and is responsible for much southern French rosé – taking the lead in most Provence styles.

Found all over Spain as Garnacha Tinta (spelt Garnaxa in Catalonia), the grape variety is increasingly detailed on wine labels there. Along with Tempranillo, it forms the majority of the blend for Rioja’s reds and has been adopted widely in Navarra, where it produces lighter styles of red and rosado (rosé). It can also be found operating under a pseudonym, Cannonau, in Sardinia.

 

Beyond Europe, Grenache is widely planted in California and Australia, largely thanks to its ability to operate in high temperatures and without much water. Particularly in the Barossa Valley, there are some extraordinary dry-farmed bush vines, some of which are centuries old and produce wines of startling intensity.

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