2021 Rioja Gran Reserva

The 2021 Remelluri Gran Vino, still unlabeled (the 2020 has not yet been released), comes from specific vineyards, 25 hectares on three different soils, very chalky, all around the vineyards they use for the Yjar. They are working like they have worked for Yjar, making a very simple vinification for the best grapes they have. It has multiple varieties, Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano, Malvasía, Garnacha Blanca, Moscatel, etc. and fermented with indigenous yeasts in oak vats, then matured in foudres and barrels of different sizes for 18 to 22 months. It's ripe but without excess, more with a sense of ripeness, with 14.5% alcohol. I don't know how to describe it, but it's different from the wines from Telmo Rodríguez; it smells of Remelluri, peppery, with notes of Mediterranean herbs, maybe a little earthy and somewhat more rustic than the Yjar. It's complex and has a very chalky mouthfeel and is fine boned and fine grained, very balanced. This has to be the finest wine produced at Remelluri for a long time. 46,000 bottles produced. It was bottled between June and July 2024.