Grapes of Spain

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
92	Wine Review Online	This is a completely, gulp-ably delicious wine that also shows real complexity and class…for $22. My first encounter with this Bodega included an excellent 2001 Gran Reserva and a very good 2011 Crianza, so we are off to a very good start. Although I really do like the Crianza, $5 is a very small premium to buy up to this Reserva; likewise, $5 is peanuts to trade up to a Gran Reserva that is 8 years older. So, this and the 2001 seem like the obvious wines to buy, and I actually like the two of them equally well, despite the fact that they are very different. Thanks to a relatively warm growing season, this 2009 Reserva is very soft and immediate in its appeal, with lovely soft fruit and very broad texture for a five year-old Rioja Reserva. Frankly, you could find plenty of Reservas from 2005 or 2006 that aren’t as open and seductive as this wine is right now. Nevertheless, there’s a lot going on underneath all that soft fruit, with nice spice and smoke notes, as well as a subtle accent of cured meat. This would be perfect with medium-weight dishes such as chicken, pork, duck or veal.
91	Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar	Bright ruby-red. Deep, smoky aromas of blackberry, cherry, pipe tobacco, coconut and mocha. Sweet and silky in texture, offering open-knit red fruit compote flavors complicated by subtle baking spice and smoke flourishes. Finishes very long and gently tannic, with lingering red fruits and spices.
90	Wine Enthusiast	This opens with hot, fiery aromas, but with airing the nose turns toward cola, leather and plum. Wiry and lively on the palate, this is a focused, slightly tannic wine that reveals earthy, saucy flavors. A leathery, sun-baked finish is a bit stewy. Drink through 2019.
**	The Washington Post	** 1/2 Stars (Excellent to Exceptional) This wine and its delicious sibling, a $13 2011 Crianza, are moody teenagers. At first sip, they grouse and complain about being awakened from their slumber, but don’t give up on them. After they have a chance to shake off that negative vibe (for wines, about an hour), they blossom into the charming, complex wonders you knew they could be. The Reserva is the further developed and more complex of the two, having matured longer in oak. Both are tempranillo-based blends, and both should mature well for a few more years in your cellar. These are new wines from importer Aurelio Cabestrero’s Grapes of Spain label and should see increasing availability soon.

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Vina Otano Reserva 2012

91 (VM) 90 BB (W&S) 88 (WE) 87-91 (VfC)

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
91	Vinous Media	(raised in new and used French and American oak barrels for two years) Ruby-red. Fresh, spice-accented red berries, vanilla and a hint of woodsmoke on the fragrant nose. Smooth and silky in texture, offering energetic raspberry and bitter cherry flavors that slowly spread out and become sweeter as the wine opens up. Finishes long and supple, displaying no obvious tannins and strong, red-fruit-driven persistence. 2018 - 2023
90 BB	Wine & Spirits Magazine	Scents of roses and umeboshi plums introduce this lean, peppery Rioja Alta red. Its dark fruit bursts out of the tight, oak-driven tannins with the crunch of pomegranate seeds and the red fruit flavor they might leave behind. Firm and spicy, this wine is ready for roast duck. December 2018 Year's Best - Best Buy
88	Wine Enthusiast	This wine's earthy berry aromas include a touch of mint and chocolate. It has a crisp mouthfeel, with plum and citrus fruit. It's potently woody on the finish. August 2018
87-91	View from the Cellar	The bouquet is quite marked by its new oak, but shows good depth of fruit underneath in its mélange of red and black cherries, salty Rioja soil tones, clove-like spices, a touch of toasted coconut and plenty of spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nicely plush on the attack, with a fine core, lovely focus and grip and just a bit too much new oak tannin perking up the long and nascently complex finish...the wine has serious depth and may be able to absorb its wood tannins with further bottle age, and even though the balance is not ideal today, I could still easily drink this wine, given how beautiful the fruit and soil tones are here under the oak. This is a half-step away from an absolutely stunning wine- all that needs to be improved is better handling of the wood! 2017-2035?

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Vina Otano Reserva 2014

93 (VfC)

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93	View from the Cellar	The 2014 Rioja “Reserva” from Vina Otano is a lovely wine that is really starting to drink beautifully at seven years of age. The cépages of the 2014 is eighty-five percent Tempranillo, ten percent Graciano and five percent Mazuelo. The wine was aged for a year and a half in barrel, in a combination of French and American oak and has just been released from the cellars in magnum. The bouquet is lovely, wafting from the glass in a mix of cherries, black raspberries, Cuban cigar, a touch of spiced meats, a lovely base of soil tones, Rioja spice tones and a nice foundation of oak that blends cedar with the toasted coconut, American oak side of the ledger. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and beautifully balanced, with a good core, fine soil signature, still some moderate tannins and a long, tangy and focused finish. The wine is just starting to blossom in magnum and still has decades and decades of fine life ahead of it! This is fine juice and priced at $50 a magnum in the US, is a superb value. 2021- 2060+ John Gilman - Issue #91 January/February 2021

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Vina Otano Reserva 2015

92 (WRO) 92 (WS) 92 (VM) 92 (VfC) 91 (WB)

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
92	Wine Review Online	This is very well made Rioja Reserva that shows the generosity of a warm year but still manages to display regional typicity. There’s enough oak in the mix to require some aeration, but the wine shows quite well after an hour, and beautifully after two. In terms of weight, it is really just medium-bodied, but it is fully flavored when the spicy, toasty oak joins forces with the fruit’s impact on the palate. The oak pulls up short of the fruit in the finish, which is exactly what makes the wine so enjoyable, whereas lots of renditions of Rioja Reserva suffer from astringent finishes with wood tannin killing the sweetness of the fruit. The blend is 85% Tempranillo 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. With time to loosen up, the overall impression is soft and invitingly deep and plush on the palate, and there’s no doubt this excellent now but looking at 5 to 7 very promising years ahead. Michael Franz - November 3., 2020
92	Wine Spectator	This big red offers ripe, fresh fruit flavors of black cherry and plum, in a plump texture kept balanced by firm tannins and lively acidity. Harmonious, still youthful. Drink now through 2030. 4,500 cases made, 1,500 cases imported. Thomas Matthews - August 31, 2021
92	Vinous Media	Deep violet. Spice- and mineral-tinged scents of fresh cherry, dark berries and spicecake are complemented by a candied rose accent. Juicy and pliant in the mouth, offering smoky black raspberry, cherry cola, vanilla and cracked pepper flavors that deepen steadily on the back half. In an energetic style, showing fine clarity and silky tannins that frame a long, focused finish. Raised in French and American oak barrels for 18 months. 2023 – 2032 Josh Raynolds - April 2021
92	View from the Cellar	The 2015 Reserva bottling from Viña Otano has a slightly different cépages than the 2017 Crianza, as the blend here is eighty percent tempranillo, fifteen percent graciano and five percent Mazuelo. The grapes are again hand-harvested and aged in a combination of older French and American casks, for eighteen months in this case, followed by three years of bottle aging in the cellars. The wine is really quite good on the nose, wafting from the glass in a mix of cherries, raspberries, cloves, cedar, a Chambolle-Musigny-like touch of mustard seed, a fine base of soil and a topnote of bonfires. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and starting to get nicely velvety on the attack, with a lovely core of red fruit, good soil undertow, still a bit of backend tannins and a long, well-balanced, tangy and complex finish. This is really very good Rioja! It is quite approachable today, but still shows some tannin on the finish and will drink even better with a bit more time in the cellar. 2022-2065. John Gilman - Issue # 98 March/April 2022
91	Washington Wine Blog	The 2015 ‘Reserva’ Rioja by Vina Otano has a touch of Manzuelo and Graciano blended in, as this was aged for eighteen months in oak before bottling. The lovely freshness, weight and sense of salinity entices as bright red fruits dance with citrus rind and damp earth tones on the palate. Every bit outstanding at this stage, the 2015 Vina Otano ‘Reserva’ Rioja will enjoy another decade or more of life ahead of it. Drink 2020-2030. Dr. Owen J. Bargreen, CS - July 2020

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Vina Otano Reserva 2016

93 (OB) 91 (VfC)

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93	OwenBargreen.com	The gorgeous 2016 Vina Otano ‘Reserva’ Rioja is shining brightly now at the eight year mark. This was stored for 18 months in French and American oak barrels and then a further 30 months in barrel before bottling. This is wonderfully concentrated on the palate, displaying rich red and dark fruit flavors alongside garrigue, tar and exotic spices. Enjoy this beauty now and over the next ten plus years. Drink 2023-2033- Owen Bargreen - October, 2023
91	View from the Cellar	The 2016 Rioja “Reserva” from Viña Otano is crafted from a cépages of eighty-five percent Tempranillo, ten percent Graciano and five percent Mazuelo. The wine is aged in a combination of French and American oak barrels for eighteen months prior to bottling and an additional two and a half years in the bottle prior to release. The wine’s aromatic constellation is quite lovely today, wafting from the glass in a mix of red and black raspberries, Rioja spices, cigar smoke, celery seed, a fine base of soil, a hint of lavender and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is fullbodied, focused and complex, with a fine core of fruit, good soil signature, moderate tannins and fine focus and balance on the long and promising finish. This is not quite ready to drink yet, but it is not too far away and will be a very tasty bottle once the tannins soften up a bit more. A fine value. 2028-2060. John Gilman - Issue #105 May/June 2023.

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Vina Otano Reserva 2017

91+ (VfC)

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Score	Publication	Review	Copy
91+	View from the Cellar	The 2017 Rioja “Reserva” from Viña Otano is composed from its customary blend of eighty-five percent tempranillo, ten percent graciano and five percent mazuelo, with all of the fruit hailing from vineyards in the Rioja Alta sector. The wine is given eighteen months of élevage in cask prior to bottling and tips the scales at 14.5 percent alcohol in this vintage. It offers up a lovely aromatic constellation of black raspberries, cassis, cigar wrapper, dark soil tones, brown spices, just a touch of meatiness and cedary wood. On the palate the wine is deep, complex and full- bodied, with a good undercarriage of tannins, fine depth at the core, good soil signature and a long, poised and very nicely balanced finish. Despite being seven years of age, the 2017 Reserva really could do with a bit more time in the cellar to properly soften up its tannins. It is a lovely bottle in the making. 2030-2065. John Gilman; Issue 109, January – February 2024

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