2014 Finca Montote Rioja Reserva 750 ml

We tasted the dazzling 2014 Finca Montote Rioja Reserva in Logrono, Spain—and if we’d thought a bottle sitting back in the States could beat it, we wouldn’t have bothered bringing it over. But this kind of rich, seductive Reserva quality is almost unheard of for the price—which is why we embarked on a two-year journey of phone calls, emails, EU and US bureaucracy just to deliver it to Wine Access members. 

“It was...” Our Vice President of Wine Robert Emery contemplated his words as we sipped our first stateside bottle of Finca Montote. “Totally, objectively, undeniably worth it.” The Rioja had dazzled us from the very first cherry-and-vanilla-scented whiff—impressive, considering we were introduced to it in an ancient bullfighting ring in Logrono, while enjoying a meal of locally raised lamb cooked over dried grapevine cuttings. When a wine stands out there, it can stand out anywhere. 

A 360-case rarity raised on one gorgeous estate, this 92-point Rioja is everything we want from Spain’s most revered appellation. And since there’s no importer looking to grab their own cut on this one, we’re able to offer this first-class Rioja Reserva at a Crianza price, just $25. 

Six years after harvest, the wine is blossoming, showing off exactly why we fell in love with it. It's fragrant with aromas of spiced plums and cherries accented by sun-grown tobacco, vanilla, allspice, and licorice. Exquisitely balanced in its vivacious palate of black cherry and five-spice, showing a layered mouthfeel and a beautifully complex and structured finish, this subtle yet extroverted wine is exquisite with lamb and grilled meats, but won’t fail to seduce on its own. At this price, grab some for every occasion. 

One glimpse of the Finca Montote vineyards, and the exceptional beauty of the wine makes perfect sense. Located in the heart of the Sierra de los Agudos right next to Spain’s Moncayo Natural Park, the fourth-generation Rubio family’s estate is stunning, down to the majestic main building that would be at home at one of Bordeaux’s Grand Cru Classé properties. 

The beauty, of course, is in more than the buildings. The neat rows of Tempranillo vines thrive in this place where the continental, Atlantic, and Mediterranean climates come together. The Reserva is hand-harvested and -selected, fermented in stainless steel tanks, then aged for a year in American oak barriques, followed by a minimum of two years in bottle. 

Now with a few more years of age on it, the tiny-production Reserva is singing, with spiced plums and cherries accented by tobacco, vanilla, and allspice. When we first tasted it in Spain, there was not a single bottle of this Rioja in or bound for the United States. We remedied that as quickly as we could, claiming every extant bottle for Wine Access members. Today’s the day it all pays off.