2010 Faustino I Rioja Gran Reserva 750 ml

Here at Wine Access HQ, some decisions are as tough as laying off a late-breaking curve. Some, on the other hand, are as easy as swinging at a juicy fastball down the middle—and we took a monster cut at the gorgeous 2010 Faustino I Rioja Gran Reserva.

That’s because this seductive, complex Rioja ticks just about every box we’ve got:

• An iconic estate’s most prestigious bottling
• Grown in the finest Rioja vintage in 20 years (95 points from The Wine Advocate)
• Spent 10+ years in the winery’s caves and is now aged to perfection
• Critical acclaim, including 94 points from James Suckling and 93 from Decanter

This is the kind of flawlessly aged Gran Reserva Rioja that every red wine lover should experience, and it was a winner for us the moment it came through the door. For fans of Spanish wines—or those who LOVE aged Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Napa reds but chafe at triple-digit prices—this is an absolute no-brainer.

Faustino was founded in 1861 by the Martinez family, and is currently operated by sisters who are sixth-generation descendants. With an eye-popping nine million bottles resting in their cellar—Spain’s largest collection of library Gran Reserva Riojas, dating back to 1955—Faustino wines are famed for the grace that comes with age. 

For this bottling, the outstanding 2010 vintage—one of the best in the last 50 years—enhanced the year-in-year-out excellence of Faustino’s grapes. The evenly paced, drama-free growing season framed Faustino’s Gran Reserva with the classical proportions and balance that have served it well as it aged in their dusty cellar. Now, all that’s left is to enjoy it.