2013 Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia Macán, Castille-La Mancha

Tempranillo (100%), average age of vineyard 40 years

Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia was born in 2004 as a result of the joint venture between Tempos Vega Sicilia and the Winemaking Company Baron Edmond de Rothschild. Both firms share the idea of making great wines in Rioja, a unique, singular, inimitable winegrowing region. After a five year period of terroirs evaluation and acquisition of 92 ha of vineyard, the project takes shape in 2009 with the first vintage of two wines, Macán and Macán Clásico. The philosophy is to offer a modern and unique vision of Rioja following the Bordeaux model of a first and second wine.

Macán offers the purest expression of Rioja´s Tempranillo. It is fresh, jovial and pleasant. It is a wine deeply attached to its territory. Freshness, fruitiness and delicacy are its signs of identity. It is produced in stainless steel casks; part of its malolactic fermentation in oak; new oak and single use barrel ageing for 12 to 14 months determined only by the characteristics of the vintage. It is balanced in bottle for over 18 months.

‘The wine has been in bottle since May 2016, and I was able to have a preview. I hope I will be able to revisit this in my following round of Rioja tastings.

This selection from their best Tempranillo vineyards in San Vicente de la Sonsierra fermented in French oak vats for 10 to 15 days, aged in brand new French barriques for 16 to 18 months, then set to rest in bottle for three years before being released. It feels like a step ahead in balance, integration and in the quality of the tannins, which showed fine-grained and elegant.’