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Items 16-30 of 40
“Viña Ijalba”
Those words had been following us around Rioja like a strange echo. Their name surfaced in nearly every cellar we went to—yet the estate remained mysterious. It didn’t take long before we gave in to temptation and scheduled a visit.
Picturesque and enchanting landscapes of the Upper Ebro give us these grapes, from which the winemaker from the Spanish winery El Coto de Rioja conjures up this red wine with refinement and experience.
Rayos Uva is winemaker Olivier Rivière’s version of a Bourgogne Rouge, sourced from fruit grown in the sandy, gravelly, alluvial soils of the Rioja Baja sub-region in the eastern part of Rioja. This blend of Tempranillo, Graciano, and Garnacha is crafted to convey a brightly fruity version of Rioja unmarked by oak.
2017 was a very challenging year, as most of their vineyards in San Vicente de la Sonsierra in Rioja were affected by frost, unlike others in nearby Laguardia. Not only was it frost, but they also had hail later on in the season. Quantities suffered—they told me they lost 70% of the crop in Rioja that year—but they were happy about the quality of the 2017 Macán, being very careful with the fermentation and separating the press wine by quality.
Dark violet-red in the glass, this wine has a nose of cassis, black cherry and clove. The palate offers a nice combination of fruit and spice with flavors of blackberry, black currant, dark chocolate and licorice, and a note of clove on the finish.