2016 GR Rioja Graciano, Bodegas Casa Primicia

£17.50 inc. VAT

In the vineyards surrounding the stunning medieval town of Laguardia the delicate Graciano grape thrives and makes wines of elegance and finesse.

The Casa Primicia winery dates back to the 12th century when it was owned by the church and it produced wine from the grapes given as tax from the local growers. In the early 1970s in was bought by Julian Madrid and the Bodega remains in the family today. The ethos here is small production and vineyard plots of single grape varieties plus a good maverick streak. The DOCg rules of oak ageing for Crianza classification are ignored in some wines winemaker Fernando rightly thinks he knows his wines better than some desk bound bureaucrat.

The soils are clay and chalk and the age of the Graciano vines are around 30 years. Aged for 11 months in Hungarian oak (rather than the DOCg ruling of 12) this wine forgoes Crianza on its label and is all the better for it. Only 6,284 bottles were produced of this stunning single variety Rioja

Bright cherry red in colour with aromas of black cherry, plum and exotic spice. A nice silkiness on the palate but with good structure. This intense fruit lingers on the finish with good freshness too. A superb example of Graciano.

A bottle of this with slow roast pork shoulder on a sunny Sunday would be my idea of heaven.

14.5%