Vina Jaraba Crianza
"Our best selling wine!...a Crianza showing balance between fruit and oak, body and elegance" —
Pedro del Toro, winemaker
Appellation
La Jaraba D.O.P.
Grape(s)
80% Tempranillo, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Merlot
Altitude/Soil
700-750 meters / sandy, clay, chalky, pebbles, limestone
Farming Methods
Sustainable methods
Harvest
Hand harvested into small boxes, as grapes ripen, plot by plot
Production
All grape movements by gravity, fermentation in small tanks separated by variety and source, natural/slow ML conversion
Aging
Varieties were aged, separately for 8 months in 80% American and 20% French and oak barrel, additional aging in tank and bottle
Suggested Retail Price
$15
Vina Jaraba Crianza
2015
90 (IWR) 90 (VfC) 90 (VM)
| 90 |
International Wine Report |
The 2015 Viña Jaraba Crianza opens with deep dark currant with tobacco leaf and earthy undertones that round out the beautiful aromatics in the glass. The palate has wonderful freshness and verve, delivering ripe red raspberry cordial, tobacco leaf and milk chocolate flavors while remaing well balanced through the finish. 2019-2025
September 2019 |
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| 90 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2015 Viña Jaraba Crianza is made from the same blend as the 2016 Cosecha (eighty percent tempranillo and ten percent each of cabernet and merlot), but it spends double the time in barrel- eight months- prior to racking. Again, the casks are a mix of French and American oak. The longer sojourn in barrel has given the wine a bit more refinement on the nose, which wafts from the glass in a classy mix of red and black cherries, a nice touch of tempranillo spice elements, lovely soil, woodsmoke and a bit of cedary oak in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, fullish and nascently complex, with a good core, fine focus and grip, a bit more tannin than the Cosecha bottling and lovely precision on the long finish. This is a very good bottle and again, an excellent value, as it retails here in the states for all of thirteen dollars per bottle! 2018-2030.
Issue #75 – May/June 2018 |
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| 90 |
Vinous Media |
Light red. Spice-accented red currant and cherry on the nose; a floral quality emerges as the wine opens up. Appealingly sweet red berry and rose pastille flavors show good concentration, and a spine of juicy acidity adds support and lift. Aeration brings up deeper blackberry and licorice notes that linger on the long, gently tannic finish. 2021- 2025
Josh Raynolds - February 2021 |
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Vina Jaraba Crianza
2017
91 (WRO) 89 (WE) 89 (VfC)
| 91 |
Wine Review Online |
This is among the most complex wines I’ve tasted in this below-$15 price range I have tasted for quite some time, and though I really admire the 2019 Cosecha release from this producer, you’d be well advised to pay $2 more for this. (However, any particular retailer is likely to have only one or the other in inventory, so if you see either of them, just grab, pay and run, gratefully.) This shows just enough oak influence to provide some spice notes and firm up the finish with a little grip, yet the wine is definitely not overtly oaky (as the legal term “Crianza” might make you fear, based on the style of many inexpensive Rioja wines). The eight-month span in oak barrels actually seems to have had more influence due to oxygen interchange than outright wood flavoring, which suits me just fine. Though there’s less annoying oak in this than comparably-priced Rioja, that’s partly because the wine has more body and fruit, thanks to a warmer climate and 10% each of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Excellent period, and amazing for the price.
Michael Franz – March 9, 2021 |
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| 89 |
Wine Enthusiast |
This ruby-colored wine has aromas of dark plum, truffle paste and forest floor. There is a sense of sophistication on the palate, with flavors of black cherry, strawberry, dried Mediterranean herbs and roasted yellow pepper. Gentle tannins glide into a savory finish. Best Buy.
M.D. - Best of the Year 2022 |
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| 89 |
View from the Cellar |
The Vina Jaraba “Crianza” from Pago de La Jaraba is made from the same cépages as the Cosecha bottling and given eight months in cask prior to bottling, rather than the four months of the other cuvee. It is then given some bottle aging in the cellars prior to release, so that the 2017 is the new release in the market. The wine delivers a fine nose of desiccated dark berries and black cherries, clove-like spice tones, cigar wrapper, excellent soil tones and an understated framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and velvety on the attack, with a good core of fruit, fine soil undertow and grip, buried tannins and a long, complex and very nicely balanced finish. There is just a whisper of raisin tones on the backend, but this is far more understated than in the 2019 Cosecha and here just adds a bit more complexity, rather than defining the personality of the wine. This is a very well-made wine and another outstanding value, as this retails in the US at $14 per bottle! 2021-2032.
John Gilman - Issue #91 / February 2021 |
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Vina Jaraba Crianza
2018
90 (VfC)
| 90 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2018 Tinto “Crianza” from Viña Jaraba is made from the same combination of grapes as their regular bottling, with eighty percent Tempranillo and ten percent each of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is aged for eight months in cask, with eighty percent of the barrels made from American oak and the rest from French wood, and then given extended bottle aging in the cellar prior to release. The 2018 Crianza delivers a lovely nose, wafting from the glass in a mix of cassis, Cuban cigars, dark soil tones, a touch of Pomerol-like chocolate tones, woodsmoke and a deft framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a good core, fine-grained, moderate tannins and very good length and grip on the poised and balanced finish. This comes in listed at the same 13.5 percent octane as the regular bottling from 2021, but has a bit more mid-palate stuffing than that wine. 2023-2035.
John Gilman - Issue #103 January/February 2023. |
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Vina Jaraba Crianza
2019
90 (VfC)
| 90 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2019 Viña Jaraba “Crianza” is essentially the same wine as the Cosecha bottling, made
from the same organically-farmed vineyards and the same cépages, but with the wine given eight months of cask aging (rather than four) and then some extended bottle aging in the cellars as well prior to release. The 2019 Crianza tips the scales at 13.5 percent alcohol. The two additional years of evolution in the bottle has really resulted in a complex aromatic constellation here, with the wine wafting from the glass in a fine blend of cassis, coffee bean, a fine base of chalky soil tones, a touch of eucalyptus, gentle meatiness, cigar smoke, a nice touch of brown spices and a gentle framing of oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nicely velvety now on the attack, with an excellent core of black fruit, good soil signature and grip, buried tannins and fine length on the well balanced and complex finish. It is interesting that the Crianza, despite only spending four additional months in cask, shows as much backend tannin as the 2022 Cosecha, despite three years more bottle aging. This is another excellent value, as it only retails here in the US for fifteen dollars per bottle! 2025-2035+.
John Gilman, Issue 117, May– June 2025 |
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