Rioja, Spain
Anciano Rioja Crianza No.5 is a big step up from No. 3. The grapes are hand-harvested from mid-September off 100ha of vineyards, including a selection of bush-trained vines, with an average age of 20 years. Post-fermentation, it spends a year in American oak barrels for 12 months, followed by a year in bottles. Expect more intensity than No. 3, with more decadent flavours of red and blue fruit dusted in milk chocolate and dried herbs. Easy sipping, it has a lovely silky texture allowing the wine to slip down easily. Perfect for grilled lamb chops, barbecue ribs, or a favourite pan vegetable dish.

Ox-blood rim with a ruby core. On the nose, ripe red fruits with cinnamon and vanilla from the barrel. On the palate, fresh and fruity with an elegant and complex structure. Silky and persistent finish with a touch of spice.

Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.

Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.