Marques de Caceres Rioja Gran Reserva 2019

This structured and 'aristocratic' red wine originates from Spain, within the prestigious Rioja appellation of North-Central Spain. Founded in 1970 by Enrique Forner with guidance from legendary Bordeaux oenologist Émile Peynaud, Marqués de Cáceres revolutionized Rioja winemaking by combining meticulous French oak maturation and temperature-controlled fermentation with a primary focus on fruit purity and terroir drive. Sourced exclusively from very old, low-yielding bush vines (averaging 65 to 85+ years of age) in choice high-elevation plots across Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, the vines are rooted in chalky clay-limestone and gravelly alluvial soils. The unique mesoclimate where cooling Atlantic maritime influences merge with Mediterranean warmth allows Tempranillo and its blending partners to undergo an extended ripening cycle, accumulating intense phenolic density, complex skin tannins, and a remarkable, age-worthy natural acidity.

Wine Description

The 2019 Marqués de Cáceres Gran Reserva presents a deep, luminous garnet-ruby color in the glass with brick and dark mahogany highlights along the rim. Its sensory profile is exceptionally bold, high-toned, and complex, delivering a masterfully refined and mature portrait of top-tier Rioja Gran Reserva. The bouquet opens with a soaring, multi-layered display of dried black plums, stewed dark cherries, and wild cassis, seamlessly integrated with complex underlays of sweet pipe tobacco, cedarwood, cured leather, dark cocoa, cigar box, crushed limestone, and a delicate touch of toasted French vanilla. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, muscular, and precisely focused, showcasing a succulent core of dark stone fruits, blood orange peel, and dried Mediterranean herbs. It is characterized by its outstanding inner energy and an incisive, mouthwatering backbone of natural acidity that effortlessly elevates its rich mid-palate extract. The mouthfeel is broad, velvety, and supple, framed by firm, fine-grained, and chalky tannins that glide into an extraordinarily long, dry, and savory finish accented by persistent notes of iron, roasted coffee, and dried spice.

Vintage Quality

The 2019 growing season across Rioja is officially rated as "Excellent" by the regulatory council. Characterized by a dry summer with warm daytime sunshine and cool nighttime breezes, the old-vine blocks yielded small, highly concentrated berries with extraordinary flavor depth, deep skin phenolics, and vibrant natural acidity. Marqués de Cáceres harvested clean, pristine fruit at peak physiological balance. The resulting 2019 Gran Reserva combines rich Spanish warmth and dark berry power with noble structural restraint, built to evolve and improve gracefully in a cellar over the next 15 to 25+ years.