Granja Remelluri Gran Reserva 2015

This is very spicy and intense, yet with subtle toasted oak and gorgeous fruit. Perfumed. Full-bodied and very layered with incredible fruit and length. So much spice at the finish. Wonderful length. So typical of wines from 20 or 30 years ago, but made in a modern and precise way. Give this another three to five years. Try in 2024.

The 2015 Granja Remelluri Gran Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha from their estate vineyards. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in barrels of different origins and sizes for 27 to 29 months. The wine shows superb, an undated style of Gran Reserva, using grapes from the three different valleys they have in Remelluri to create their grand vin. It has a classical style, but the oak and the evolution is slower, and the texture shows more of the limestone from the soils. This probably has almost 20% Garnacha, which to Telmo was the grape that was always there in Remelluri, and the grapes were harvested very late. 4,800 bottles were filled in May 2018.

Telmo Rodríguez has been winning deserved plaudits for his ethereal Garnachas, but here in the family winery he proves that he can tempt the best out of Tempranillo. In fact it's an enticing blend, even including some white grapes. They come together to form an elegant whole, alive with mulberries and notes of orange. There's a fine, firm finish. Well worth cellaring.