2020 Valenciso Rioja Seleccion Especial Reserva, Rioja

The 2020 Reserva, which could be labeled Selección Especial in some markets, reflects the house style, which is somewhere between tradition and modernity, keeping the character and typicity with good ripeness, controlled extraction, a certain elegance and integrated oak. It's elegant, perfumed and floral, quite showy, more developed and complex this time, medium- to full-bodied, with fine tannins and a polished palate. It doesn't lack ripeness—it has 14.5% alcohol—but it keeps the balance and poise with integrated acidity and a soft texture. It matured in French oak barrels, one-third new, for 19 months and then spent a further 12 months in concrete until bottling. It's harmonious and balanced, with power and elegance. 80,000 bottles were produced in January 2024.

93 points Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate

Valenciso was founded in 1998 by Luis Valentín and Carmen Enciso, two highly experienced Rioja winemakers determined to create a more elegant, finely drawn expression of Rioja Alta. Based in Ollauri, they work predominantly with Tempranillo from mature vineyards, favouring freshness and restraint over excessive extraction. Selección Especial Reserva sits at the serious end of the Valenciso cellar, bringing together carefully chosen parcels and extended ageing for a Rioja with depth, complexity and genuine ageing potential.

The 2020 vintage gives this wine a lovely combination of ripe fruit and freshness. Rioja Alta’s elevation and Atlantic influence help temper the warmth of the growing season, while Valenciso’s measured approach to maturation builds complexity without allowing oak to dominate. The result is Reserva with richness and structure, but still very much in the estate’s elegant mould.

Deep garnet with ruby edges, the nose unfolds with black cherry, ripe plum and blackberry alongside violet, liquorice and dried herbs. With air come cedar, tobacco leaf, cocoa, orange peel and a little warm earth. The palate is generous yet beautifully shaped, with dark fruit wrapped in fine, savoury tannins and fresh acidity. Notes of black cherry, spice and cocoa build through the middle before a long finish of tobacco, liquorice and dried Mediterranean herbs.

This deserves something slow-cooked and deeply savoury: lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic, beef cheeks braised in red wine, charcoal-grilled rib eye, wild mushroom paella or chorizo and white bean stew. My pick would be the lamb shoulder — crispy edges, sticky roasting juices and garlic against mature Rioja is Sunday lunch behaving very badly indeed.

Cellaring: Drink now to 2038.