Gran Vino Tinto is made from a careful blend of grapes from the oldest vines at the Finca La Emperatriz estate. A classic Rioja, it is a fine and elegant wine with clear precise aromas and flavours which has been awarded excellent ratings from all the top wine critics such as Peñín, Parker, Atkin, Suckling and Proensa.
The excellent Finca La Emperatriz Gran Vino Tinto is produced from vines growing in a stunning landscape with a 40 cm covering of white pebbles and stones in Rioja Alta. The characteristic terroir is admired for its elegant wines thanks to conditions ideal for vine-growing. The pebble-strewn vineyards are well-drained and ideal for vine roots to seek out its limited nutrients, while the plants enjoy hours of plentiful sunshine. The vineyard is classified as a Viñedo Singular, a label awarded to unique small old plots which have historically produced a small yield of top quality fruit.
Growing at an altitude of 570 metres above sea level, the Tempranillo, Grenache and Macabeo vines are between 50 and 65 years old. The grapes are harvested by hand in the third week of October, and then carefully selected and destemmed before being left to ferment together with native yeasts in concrete tanks. They then undergo a malolactic fermentation in wood before the wine is left to age for 18 months in the same new and used French and American oak barrels.
The result is an excellent Finca la Emperatriz wine, the finest and most elegant of the red wines they make in Baños de Rioja. The Grenache and Macabeo grapes play an important role in adding acidity and freshness to aromas of ripe black fruit wrapped in pepper and liquorice. A classic Rioja, with clear precise flavours and aromas, it is a serious and well-balanced wine combining maturity and power with the elegance and subtlety of fine spicy and herbal tones. Intense in the mouth with firm yet well-worked tannins and exuberant fragrances of plums, blackberries and cherries. With a style between a medium and full-bodied wine, it offers a serious, dry and long finish which promises a great future.
Vino clamoroso! Secco, intenso, complesso ed emozionante. Ha bisogno del suo tempo per aprirsi, ma è una bevuta che non si dimentica
The winery
Viñedos Hermanos Hernáiz
Finca La Emperatriz is one of the very few Rioja wineries to produce their wines from one single vine-growing plantation, which is customary in Bordeaux's Médoc region (other Rioja wineries employing the same model are Remelluri, Valpiedra and Contino). This is an estate of excellent quality whose potential had already been recognised at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1878 and which concealed a very important history.
The estate originally belonged to Eugenia de Montijo,...
