2018 Hermanos Hernaiz "Finca La Emperatriz" Reserva Rioja

The wine labeled in 2016 as Gran Vino and in 2017 as Viñedo Singular has finally been simplified to 2018 Finca la Emperatriz Tinto with the category of Viñedo Singular, the new official single-vineyard category. It's a modern, clean and generously oaked blend of 76% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 4% Viura from vines worked organically from 2020, with 14.5% alcohol, good freshness and balance. It fermented in concrete and matured in 60% new French barriques and 40% used American ones for 18 months. This is a vin de garde that needs time in bottle to finish integrating the oak. As with the white, the 2016 is evolving more gracefully than the 2017 (tasted from half bottles, so perhaps not the best data point...). 32,544 bottles and some other formats were filled in August 2020. (LG)

I am really excited to be able to sell these wines. There are a lot of good Riojas out there but there is something special about this wine. I am a geek. I am always looking to learn more. This wine does that, but at the same it flips a switch and turns off that side of my brain. The combination of all the aromatic elements is almost perfect for me. It is balanced, nothing stands out, there is a harmony to the wide array of classic Rioja aromatics here. It smells great when the bottle is first opened and it proceeds to get better and better. With their white wine I have are hard time giving it an easy reference point. With this it is easy, think of the Reserva Especial from Muga. But then you have to brighten it, there are more red fruits here, and then you have to add a little American oak, this has a more traditional array of aromas and flavors than that wine, but the poise, the mouthfeel, almost the polish (this wine feels more polished without feeling over polished, sorry). There is great intensity on the palate, it is mouth filling with a dark cherry/pomegranate like fruit tone. The oak is there but in the background adding spice and rounding off the tannins. Speaking of background, there is a distinctive minerality that seems to build and build. It builds the same way the best Pessa Leognan does, think Haut Bailly or Domaine du Chevalier, except here it is slightly more present and higher toned? This wine has a finish that goes and goes. That dark red fruit is enhanced with layers and layers of fine spice, a touch of earth, and that minerality. There are all these things happening but it is the fruit that is the start, it is ripe, pure, and has depth and dimensionality to it. This tastes like great Rioja, but it does not taste like any other Rioja. This comes from a special place and tastes like it. I will be having a bottle or two of this over the Holiday season. There will be a bottle or two that will be going into my collection.