Riojas are known to offer some of the best values in the world of red wine, but Ramirez de la Piscina’s 2021 Rioja Crianza (100% Tempranillo) really stands out. It’s a delicious and beautifully balanced “daily drinker” coming from a traditional, family-run estate, and backed up by a 96-point review from Decanter! We’re offering it at a mere $14.98, making it an easy choice for throwing into your Fall wine mix!
The Ramirez de la Piscina family has been making wines in the Rioja Alta region since the 13th century, though they only started officially bottling under their name in 1973. Their farming practices are traditional, treating their land as a whole ecosystem. No synthetic chemicals are used, no irrigation undertaken, and grapes are harvested by hand. No factory-farmed wine here!
Rioja Alta lies in the upper foothill area of the Cantabrian Mountains, and things can get rough between Mediterranean heatwaves and Atlantic rainstorms. But the 2021 growing season was one of fantastic balance, and Ramirez de la Piscina’s Crianza shows this in its natural pairing of freshness and concentration. The wine’s generous, warming core of dark, violet-tinged fruit shows there was plenty of ripening sunlight, but it comes with a crisp & dry, mid-weight mouthfeel. After resting for 14 months in small American and French oak barrels, that fruit is infused with subtle spices (creamy vanilla, woodsy cinnamon…), cedarwood, and roasted chicory. Its velvet fruit texture set against a fine grip of tannins makes it supremely easy to drink and a fantastic pairing for hearty appetizers, stews, pork loin with a rosemary-mushroom sauce, or herb-and-spice roasted chicken!
DECANTER 96 POINTS- “Beautiful 100% Tempranillo, oak-aged Rioja with great intensity, expression and harmony. Sourced from small, non-irrigated vineyard parcels at 500m-580m in San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Abalos (Rioja Alta) … Full of appealing blueberry and gentle spice supported by smooth, velvety tannins, it's an elegant wine with real poise that still offers satisfying concentration. The finish is moreish and invites further drinking.”
The Ramirez de la Piscina family has been making wines in the Rioja Alta region since the 13th century, though they only started officially bottling under their name in 1973. Their farming practices are traditional, treating their land as a whole ecosystem. No synthetic chemicals are used, no irrigation undertaken, and grapes are harvested by hand. No factory-farmed wine here!
Rioja Alta lies in the upper foothill area of the Cantabrian Mountains, and things can get rough between Mediterranean heatwaves and Atlantic rainstorms. But the 2021 growing season was one of fantastic balance, and Ramirez de la Piscina’s Crianza shows this in its natural pairing of freshness and concentration. The wine’s generous, warming core of dark, violet-tinged fruit shows there was plenty of ripening sunlight, but it comes with a crisp & dry, mid-weight mouthfeel. After resting for 14 months in small American and French oak barrels, that fruit is infused with subtle spices (creamy vanilla, woodsy cinnamon…), cedarwood, and roasted chicory. Its velvet fruit texture set against a fine grip of tannins makes it supremely easy to drink and a fantastic pairing for hearty appetizers, stews, pork loin with a rosemary-mushroom sauce, or herb-and-spice roasted chicken!
DECANTER 96 POINTS- “Beautiful 100% Tempranillo, oak-aged Rioja with great intensity, expression and harmony. Sourced from small, non-irrigated vineyard parcels at 500m-580m in San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Abalos (Rioja Alta) … Full of appealing blueberry and gentle spice supported by smooth, velvety tannins, it's an elegant wine with real poise that still offers satisfying concentration. The finish is moreish and invites further drinking.”
