Club Altanza Reserva

Club Lealtanza is one of those wines which everyone will want to drink. Far from the highly structured wines which have taken over the market in recent years, this wine is elegant and deep, aiming to attract new followers as well as delighting lovers of classic Rioja wine. It is the only wine from the Altanza winery which is left to stand in its own private room designed just for this purpose. Club Lealtanza is a special cuvée, or blend, originally prepared exclusively for the members of the cellar's Wine Club. However, after receiving a 95-point rating from Robert Parker in 2005, and due to its popularity and demand, they decided to increase production so as to be able to offer it to all wine-lovers — although its production is limited to 48,000 bottles.

The Bodegas Altanza winery does not renounce the traditional wine-making methods of this area, and here they offer us a spectacular but classic Rioja Tempranillo wine, with care and attention paid to every last detail. It is produced using grapes from vineyards up to 75 years old located in several Rioja towns and villages (Lapuebla, Cenicero, Huércanos, Badarán, Villar de Torre and Fuenmayor), although most of the fruit comes from the Finca Tomilleros plot in the village of Galilea, at an altitude of 600 metres. These rainfed low-yield vines are about thirty years old. An extremely careful selection process followed by the wine's ageing in new French oak barrels is an example of the exclusivity of this wine, shown also through the thorough yet caring production process; after a year and a half in oak, the wine is aged for a second time in large (20,000 litre) French oak vats to ensure its uniformity before it is bottled.

The Club Lealtanza has a deep purple colour with maroon tinges from the ageing process, and a well-developed nose with aromas of cinnamon, cloves, incense, lavender, wild cherries, and blackberries. The Tempranillo grapes offer an extraordinary expression in the mouth, where black fruit unite with the wood providing a strong fleshiness and texture, a good citrus acidity (candied citrus fruits), and a medium palate with abundant notes of liquorice and dark chocolate. Firm tannins promise a good ageing potential, and a lingering and succulent finish with a fine hint of minerals mixed with fruit (graphite, truffle, peat).