Marques de Vitoria Rioja 1998 Vintage (13%) 75cl

Marques de Vitoria Rioja 1998 Vintage 75cl

100% Tempranillo from Spain - Very rare bottle of 98 Vintage Red now 26 Years old.

For less than £100 you can see what these are like to try. Restaurants will charge upwards of £400 for a bottle of this.

90 points by Wine Enthusiast

Rioja is one Spain's most famous wine regions and is one of only two regions classified under the Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) system. Its two most important red grapes are Tempranillo and Garnacha. When it comes to Rioja reds, there are 4 categories of ageing to keep in mind: Joven - There are no specific requirements here, but these wines tend to be 1-2 years old. Crianza - These wines are in their 3rd year, with at least 12 months spent in oak barrels. Reserva - When excellent vintages are selected to become Reserva wines, they spend 3 years aging, 12 months minimum of which is in oak, followed by 6 months in the bottle. Gran Reserva - The wines carefully selected for this process must undergo a minimum of 60 months aging, of which 2 years must be in oak barrels, with another 2 years spent in the bottle. Typically younger wines will be lighter in body style, exhibit more fresh fruit characteristics and are suitable to drink while young. Older wines have more developed flavor profiles and earthy characteristics.

Weather Conditions

This looked to be a textbook year throughout Rioja after a mild, wet winter; in a frost-free spring the flowering went without a hitch and the summer provided excellent flowering weather. However, rain came in mid-September forcing an early start to the harvest, which began on September 15th, and the lack of sun also curtailed the final ripening period. By October 12th everyone was picking or had picked, but those who picked late saw the benefit of an Indian summer which allowed ripening to continue in excellent conditions until November 3rd.

Best Appellations

These later-gathered grapes will, it’s hoped make some excellent Reservas, whilst the early-picked Tempranillo made very good Jovenes.

Best Producers

Fernando Remírez de Ganuza, R odaand F inca Valpiedra rated the vintage higher, but most producers were happy with the Consejo Regulador’s rating of 4, and it’s interesting to note that this was the biggest year for quantity, ever, in Rioja, with production of 2,735,605 hectolitres (just over 60 million cases, or three-quarters of a billion bottles).

13% ABV

75cl

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