2018 Bodegas Olarra Clasico Reserva Rioja 750 ml

Our Master Sommelier, Sur Lucero, brought this bottle into the office, the dust of Rioja still on his boots and bags under his eyes from a long flight. Pouring a dark ruby-red, the wine was an immediate sensation, knocking us off our feet with an intoxicating, classical bouquet of ripe black raspberry and plum tinged with wild herbs.

Still marveling when Sur hit us with the score—96 points from Decanter’s World Wine Awards, who praised it as “a wine to savour—pure class”—we made an off-the-dome estimate: A bottle of this royal, Old World pedigree, from one of Rioja’s best vintages, had to be north of $50 per bottle. But we got it for FAR less.

Founded in 1973, Bodegas Olarra has been a mainstay in the subzone of Rioja Alta for nearly half a century, turning out top-flight reds from their striking winery, which sits across the winding Ebro River from the picturesque town of Logroño.

You can’t talk about Bodegas Olarra without talking about the architecture. Designed by Juan Antonio Ridruejo, the iconic three-winged building (picture the Mercedes-Benz badge) is one of the most breathtaking sights in Spanish wine. Its most prominent feature is the barrel-room roof, which is made up of 111 hexagonal domes, whose role is much more than aesthetic—they’re designed to prevent sharp temperature changes in the cellar. 

This is absolutely crucial for Rioja, where careful aging is the crux of the process. The 2018 Clasico Reserva, which consists of 90% Tempranillo and the rest Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano, spent 18 patient months in Bodegas Olarra’s cellar, biding its time in large old American-oak casks before resting in bottle to mellow wine beautifully.