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Solarce Tinto

"We try to do a true translation of our vineyard's speech in terms of wine with the grapes it gives us, thus Solarce Tinto combines all the grape varieties we grow in our vineyards of Cogotillos, Presas and Manantíos" —

Winemaker's note

Winery

CASA LA RAD

Appellation

Rioja D.O.Ca.

Grape(s)

60% Tempranillo, 30% Garnacha, 5% Maturana and 5% Cabernet; all estate-grown fruit

Altitude/Soil

530-600 meters / chalky clay soils

Farming Methods

Organic methods, Vegan

Harvest

Hand harvested into small boxes

Production

The wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks and underwent malolactic conversion in 500L oak vats

Aging

Aged for 8 months in 225L used French oak barrels

Suggested Retail Price

$19

Wine Name

Scores

Downloads

Reviews

Solarce Tinto 2016

Gold Medal (MV) 92 (WA) 91 (WA) 91 (VM) 90 (WA) 89 (WS) 89 (I-WR) 88 (VfC)

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
Gold Medal	Mundus Vini	Mundus Vini - GOLD 22nd Grand International Wine Award - 2018
92	Wine Align Canada	Attractive cinnamon and cedar perfume join a floral top note, alongside fresh red and black fruit in a stylish ensemble. The palate is silky smooth, finely detailed, with light, dusty tannins and very good length. An elegant and sophisticated wine, high quality, and complex. Tasted October 2019; John Szabo, MS
91	Wine Align Canada	This is an impressive, fairly rich and rounded blend with very ripe cherry-figgy fruit, oak vanillin, cedar, spice and florals. Quite pretty. I like the cohesion here, quite svelte and fine with good acidity and fine, soft tannin. The length is excellent. Tasted October 2019; David Lawrason
91	Vinous Media	(fermented in stainless steel tanks; malo in 500 liter French oak barrels and eight months of aging in used barriques, 80% French and 20% American) Brilliant violet color. Pungent, spice-tinged cherry and redcurrant scents are complemented by mineral and woodsmoke notes and a hint of mocha. Sappy and energetic on the palate, offering juicy red fruit preserves, spicecake and violet pastille flavors that convey an appealing blend of richness and delicacy. Finishes taut, smoky and quite long, leaving suggestions of candied flowers and cola behind. 2021 - 2028 "Rioja Looks Back and Ahead" - February 21, 2019
90	Wine Align Canada	Solarce puts the E back in energy and a capital T back in tempranillo for this seriously meaty and seasoned red. ’Tis a bold and bad Rad with great stage presence and vocalization. Rad situation. Totally rad. Drink 2019-2022. Tasted October 2019; Michael Godel
89	Wine Spectator	This expressive red offers fruitcake flavors, with candied cherry, orange peel, vanilla and nutmeg notes mingling over citrusy acidity and light tannins. Drink now through 2028. 1,670 cases made. *TM; Issue Web Only* - 2019**
89	International Wine Review	The Solace Tinto is a blend of 60% Tempranillo, 30% Garnacha, 5% Maturana and 5% Cabernet. Dark red and semi-opaque, it offers tangy earthy aromas with herbal notes. Hard on the attack with firm tannins on the palate. Good depth of flavor, but dry and a bit short on the finish. "Spanish Wines of Value and Quality" - June 20, 2019
88	View from the Cellar	The Rioja “Solarce” from Bodegas Casa La Rad is produced from an interesting blend of sixty percent Tempranillo, thirty percent Garnacha and five percent each of Maturana and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is fermented in stainless steel and raised in new French barrels for eight months prior to bottling. The 2016 Solarce offers up a fine nose of raspberries, cherries, lovely Rioja spice tones, a fine base of soil, a touch of coconut and a fairly generous framing of cedary French oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and focused, with classic Rioja velvetiness on the attack, a good core, but a bit of uncovered oak tannin stiffening up the long and complex finish. I really love the wine here, but I am not in love with the oak treatment, which is not as deftly done as the winemaking itself. The oak tannins stick out a bit on the finish, which takes away a couple of points from the score, but the raw materials here are first rate and the potential here is outstanding. This is only eighteen dollars retail in the US, which makes it a pretty good value, but without buying new oak and seasoning up the barrels in the cellar with a few more vintages, this could become one of the greatest bargains in all of Rioja, as the underlying wine is that good! My score reflects that the wine is slightly over-oaked, but it is still a good drink in this condition, and if the Bodegas can start using older casks for the elevage, this is going to be a name to watch in Rioja! 2018-2030+. Issue #75 – May/June 2018

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Solarce Tinto 2017

91 (JS) 91 (WE) 91 (WB) 91 (VM) 88+ (VfC) 88 (WS)

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
91	JamesSuckling.com	Good focus and energy to this red, which shows blueberry and dark-cherry compote, along with some citrus. Medium-bodied and finely structured. Firm tannins. Drink now. July 24, 2019
91	Wine Enthusiast	A perfumed nose includes hints of exotic incense, oud wood, lavender and licorice along with ripe berry scents and a note of vanilla. A flush palate is racy and lively enough, while flavors of plum and berry are nicely peppery in front of a dry finish that's on the money. Drink through 2022. August 2020
91	Washington Wine Blog	A blend of mainly Tempranillo (60%) with smaller portions Cabernet Sauvignon, Maturana and Garnacha, the ‘Solarce’ shows a terrific mouthfeel an tension, as salty terroir runs through the core of dark currants, coffee grounds and tar. Seriously good, with awesome verve in its youth, the 2017 ‘Solarce’ will cellar well over the next decade. Drink 2020-2029. Dr. Owen J. Bargreen, CS - July 2020
91	Vinous Media	Deep, vivid red. Oak-spiced cherry and red berry aromas are complemented by hints of mocha and vanilla. In a pliant and energetic style, showing good depth to the juicy black raspberry and cherry-vanilla flavors, which tighten up on the back half. Closes long and smooth, with resonating spiciness and supple, well-knit tannins. Aged in new French oak barriques for eight months. 2022 – 2028 Josh Raynolds - April 2021
88+	View from the Cellar	The cépages of the 2017 Rioja “Solarce” Tinto from Bodegas Casa La Rad is sixty percent Tempranillo, thirty percent Garnacha and five percent each of Maturana and Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes are farmed organically and the wine’s malolactic fermentation takes place in five hundred liter oak casks. It is aged for eight months in two hundred and twenty-five liter, new French oak barrels prior to bottling. The wine comes in at fourteen percent octane and offers up a black fruity bouquet of black cherries, cigar wrapper, Rioja spices, a good touch of soil, cedary French oak and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and shows off good mid-palate depth, with firm, well-integrated tannins and a long, youthful finish. This is a very well-made wine, but it is young and is not showing a lot of Rioja personality in its adolescence. I suspect that more will emerge with bottle age. 2027-2045+. Issue #86 - March/April 2020
88	Wine Spectator	A beam of black cherry and currant flavors is flanked by loamy earth, tea and leafy details in this medium-bodied red. Firm, moderate tannins structure the spice and fresh leather notes on the finish. Tempranillo, Garnacha, Maturana Tinta and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2024. 3,750 cases made, 550 cases imported. — GS September 2020

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Solarce Tinto 2018

92 (OB) 91 (TA) 89 (VfC)

Label

Shelf Talker

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
92	OwenBargreen.com	2018 Casa La Rad ‘Solarce’ Rioja- The outstanding 2018 Casa La Rad ‘Solarce’ Rioja has a large portion of Garnacha (30% blended in. Big and generous on the mouth, this outstanding value comes through with good finesse and a bountiful core of red fruit flavors. Drink 2023-2030- Owen Bargreen - October, 2023
91	Tim Atkin MW	As perfumed as it is intriguing, the Solarce Tinto is an unusual cuvée of mostly Tempranillo with the remaining 60% divided between Graciano, Garnacha, Maturana and Cabernet Sauvignon. Smooth and grassy, with cassis and green herb aromas and a smooth, glossy, stylishly oaked palate. 2022-28 *Tim Atkin; Rioja Report* - February 2021**
89	View from the Cellar	The blend for the Solarce bottling from Casa La Rad is quite different than their Acentor, as the cépages here is sixty percent tempranillo, thirty percent garnacha and five percent each of maturana and cabernet sauvignon (perhaps paying homage to all those great old Marques de Riscal bottlings of yesteryear?). The wine is aged for eight months in used French barrels prior to bottling. The 2018 Solarce comes in at 14.5 percent octane and offers up a ripe and complex nose of black cherries, hung game, a touch of garrigue, coffee grounds, a fine base of soil and just a whisper of cedar from the used barrels. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and impressively transparent down to the soil, with a fine core, lovely focus and grip, well-integrated tannins and a long, complex and tangy finish. There is a touch of backend heat here, but the wine generally does a fine job of handling its octane quite well. Good juice that needs some time in the cellar. A fine value. 2024-2055. John Gilman - Issue #91 / February 2021

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Solarce Tinto 2019

92 (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
92	View from the Cellar	The Solarce Tinto bottling from Casa La Rad is composed from a blend of sixty percent tempranillo, thirty percent garnacha and five percent each of maturana and cabernet sauvignon. The grapes are hand-harvested and undergo primary fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Malo takes place in five hundred liter oak casks and the wine is aged in two hundred-twenty-five liter new French oak barrels. The 2019 version comes in at an even fourteen percent octane and offers up a lovely aromatic constellation of raspberries, black cherries, cloves, cigar ash, a good base of soil and a nice, understated framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a good core, ripe, firm tannins and a long, well-balanced and complex finish. This is a very good bottle of Rioja in the making, but it will need plenty of bottle age to let its tannins soften up properly. 2029-2065. John Gilman - Issue #98 March/April 2022

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Solarce Tinto 2020

89+ (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
89+	View from the Cellar	The 2020 Rioja “Solarce” bottling from Casa la Rad is crafted this year from a cépages of sixty percent Tempranillo, thirty percent Garnacha and five percent each of Maturana and Cabernet Sauvignon. The vines are farmed organically and the wine is raised for eight months in one hundred percent new French oak Bordeaux casks. It offers up a lovely young nose of raspberries, cloves, cigar smoke, a good base of soil tones, a touch of meatiness and a generous serving of cedary new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and nicely balanced, with a good core of red fruit, pretty soil inflection, tangy acids and a long, tannic and focused finish. The new oak component here is far more prominent on the nose than on the palate, and given some bottle age, the new wood should be nicely subsumed into the fruit of the wine and it will prove to be quite tasty. But, it would be nice to see this wine raised entirely in one wine barrels, just to give more prominence to some of the other aromatic components in the wine. It will need some cellaring time, but should prove to be a lovely bottle in due course. It is a good value. 2030-2065. John Gilman - Issue #103 January/February 2023.

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Solarce Tinto 2021

92 (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
92	View from the Cellar	The 2021 Rioja “Solarce” bottling from Casa La Rad is composed this year from a cépages of sixty percent tempranillo, thirty percent garnacha, and five percent each of maturana and cabernet sauvignon. The grapes are hand-harvested and undergo malolactic fermentation in puncheons, with the élevage lasting eight months in one to three year-old French oak Bordeaux barrels. The wine delivers a complex bouquet of black raspberries, cassis, Rioja spice tones, a good base of dark soil tones, cigar wrapper and spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full- bodied and already starting to show the first signs of velvetiness on the attack, with a good core of fruit, firm, well-integrated tannins and a long, nascently complex and new oaky finish. This is going to be very good wine in due course, but will need eight to ten years in the cellar to properly soften up its tannins and start to drink with true generosity. It is an excellent value! 2032-2075. John Gilman, Issue 109, January – February 2024

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