2015 Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 750 ml

For 130 years, the Fernández de Manzanos family made wine in the Rioja Oriental and mostly kept it to themselves. Their neighbors drank it; the rest of Spain barely noticed. That's a harder secret to keep these days—and this 2015 Gran Reserva is a good reason why.

The grapes come from vineyards in Azagra and San Adrián, north of the Ebro, and in Aldeanueva de Ebro—three growing areas spread across Rioja Oriental, a subregion that earns less attention than Rioja Alta or Alavesa but produces wines of real character when the conditions align.

In 2015, they aligned beautifully. A dry late summer concentrated the fruit, small berries brought exceptional skin-to-pulp ratios, and cooler nights preserved aromatic freshness. It was the earliest harvest in Rioja's recorded history—and one of the finest. The Consejo Regulador rated the vintage "Very Good," singling out its intense fruit, elegant tannins, and optimal conditions for aging.

Gran Reserva is not a designation that gets handed out casually. Under DOCa Rioja rules, the wine must spend at least two years in barrel and three in bottle. The Manzanos 2015 surpasses both thresholds: 36 months in four-to-six-year-old French and American oak, followed by a minimum of two years in bottle before release. It's arriving in members' hands a full decade after harvest—with the cellar work already done.

The blend is classically Riojan with an Oriental accent: 50% Tempranillo, 30% Garnacha, and the remainder split between Mazuelo and Graciano. Garnacha thrives in the subregion's warmer, drier soils, lending body and a certain aromatic generosity that pure Tempranillo blends rarely achieve. Mazuelo brings structure and acidity; Graciano contributes floral lift and a freshness that keeps the whole thing from feeling heavy. Fermented in small stainless steel tanks, the wine saw only older, neutral oak—present enough to add framework, restrained enough to let the fruit do the talking.

Decanter, who awarded it 94 points, noted "flavour definition and deft wood and alcohol integration," with "well-presented tannins lined with tobacco, sage, and mint"—and observed there's still time ahead of it.