Glorioso Gran Reserva 2018

Bodegas Palacio sits in Laguardia, in the Rioja Alavesa, and farms Tempranillo across the surrounding vineyards. Glorioso Gran Reserva is made from a careful grape selection, with each vineyard vinified separately and an extended maceration to build colour and structure. The wine is aged for twenty-three months in good quality French oak barrels and then held for thirty-six months in bottle before release, the long ageing that defines the Gran Reserva category. Rioja Alavesa lies on the cooler, higher ground of the region, with poor calcareous clay soils that suit Tempranillo and give wines their balance and length. During barrel ageing slow oxygen exchange softens the tannin and adds vanilla, spice and a savoury complexity, which the bottle time then rounds and integrates. The colour shows a brick rim with age. The nose offers ripe red fruit, leather, sweet spice, vanilla and tobacco. The palate is medium to full bodied, the tannins fine and resolved, the finish long and savoury. Serve at around 17 degrees, decanting briefly. It suits roast lamb, grilled red meats and aged hard cheese.