Score | Publication | Review | Copy |
89 | View from the Cellar | The 2020 Garnacha bottling of Rioja from Acentor is made entirely from this varietal, with half of the cuvée undergoing malolactic fermentation in new French oak barrels. The wine is then aged for ten months in older casks and then given a year’s worth of bottle aging in the cellars prior to release. The 2020 version comes in at 14.5 percent alcohol and delivers a lovely nose of red and black raspberries, fruitcake, Rioja spice tones, stony soil, a touch of garrigue and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is bright, ripe and full-bodied, with good soil signature, ripe tannins, good focus and just a wisp of backend heat perking up the long, chewy and nascently complex finish. This has a lot of personality for its price point (under twenty dollars in the US), but will need some time in the cellar to soften up before it starts to drink with generosity. It will be a tasty bottle once the tannins fade a bit. 2030-2060. John Gilman - Issue #103 January/February 2023. |