Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Gran Reserva 2017 (750ml) *

The Gran Reserva designation in Rioja signals long aging in both barrel and bottle before release, and this bottling from Bodegas Sierra Cantabria in Rioja Alta follows that classical path. The 2017 is built almost entirely on Tempranillo (98%), with a small measure of Graciano (2%) rounding out the blend. This is Rioja in a traditional register, made to show what time in oak and cellar does to the grape.

The nose leans mature, with ripe dark fruit, sweet spice and refined oak giving way to the earliest tertiary notes that come with age. On the palate it is dry and moderately concentrated, its tannins soft and its structure gentle rather than muscular, shaped more by the years of aging than by grip. The overall impression is composed and unmistakably classical.