Miguel Merino Reserva 2019, Rioja

A tiny family bodega in Briones making Rioja the long way round. Merino do not make much and I take what I can get. After a career in exporting wine, Miguel Merino realised his dream in 1990, creating his own winery. Starting with a restored farmhouse, he built a small vinification plant and barrel-ageing cellar. Miguel sources his grapes from small winemakers who owns some of the best plots near Briones, in the heart of Rioja Alta, and focus on the traditional grapes of Rioja; Tempranillo of course but also Mazuelo (or Carignan) only produced by a few winemakers as it requires a lot of hard work. His obsession was to find the small and old vineyards that no one else wanted to work, designed to be tilled by horses and producing intense fruits with good structure in order to produce great wines. He has also planted an experimental vineyard and his aim is to constantly improve the quality of his wine. Miguel is passionate, charismatic and a treasure trove of knowledge about Rioja. He now owns and runs one of the smallest, youngest and most prestigious wineries in Spain. Only 40,000 bottles (approximately) are made each year. The Miguel Merino Reserva 2019 is a classic Rioja wine made from 96% Tempranillo and 4% Graciano grapes. It is sourced from vineyards over 50 years old and is fermented with indigenous yeasts. The wine is then aged for 24 months in composite barrels made with American oak staves and French oak heads. The result is a wine that is rich, complex, and elegant. On the nose, the wine offers aromas of dark fruit, such as black currant and plum, as well as notes of vanilla and leather. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and velvety smooth, with ripe and well-integrated tannins. The flavors of dark fruit, vanilla, and leather are all present on the palate, and the wine has a long and lingering finish. The Miguel Merino Reserva 2019 is a truly exceptional wine that is sure to impress even the most discerning wine lovers. It is a wine that can be enjoyed now, but it will also age beautifully for many years to come.