D.O. Ca. Rioja (Alavesa)

ESENCIA

COLOUR

This is a highly-concentrated, dark cherry-red wine.

NOSE

A lively, delicate nose with licorice and leather aromas, with hints of black pepper. It keeps the essential aromas of compote fruit.

PALATE

It is ample and fleshy and has elegance, complexity and power. On the palate, it shows soft tannins and licorice, a velvety structure and a long, delicious and persistent finish.

FOOD PAIRING

Red meats, steak, stews, roasts, game based dishes with or without sauce and cured cheeses.

TECHNICAL DATA

Varietals: 100% Tempranillo.
Vine age: 60 Years Old Average.
Soil type: South oriented, 4 plots at 550m average altitude in upper part of village of Labastida – La Cabaña, El Bosque, Espribel and Marrate together create this unique wine.
Fermentation & Maceration Period: 26 Days.

The harvest

It was a shorter vintage than usual in terms of quantity, but of a very high level of quality. Quantity wise, a 25-30% decrease in yield compared to a normal year’s harvest. Great concentration of colour and grade that will allow keeping back wines with great longevity and with lots of fruit. Very favourable year for the cultivation of the vine, with two shocks at the beginning and end of the cycle. It was a vintage that accumulated an advance of about 10 days compared to a normal year. The low production, the favourable climate during most of the year, the morphology of grains and clusters and the good work of the winemakers resulted in very high quality wines.

Vinification

100% old vine Tempranillo from a selection of 4 specific, small vineyard plots in the upper and highest part of the village of Labastida. The “La Cabaña” (parcel planted in 1964), the “El Bosque” parcel (planted in 1975), the “Espirbel” parcel and the “Marrate” parcel (planted in 1997, the maverick in the blend) together create our “Essencia Rioja” wine that is the epitomy of what good Tempranillo can achieve. The grapes are cold macerated during 4 days followed by controlled alcoholic fermentation at 28ºC. The first selection of grapes occurs in each plot, the second careful selection is executed with the help of a Vistalys, the latest optical selection table from Bucher Vaslin, which carries out a strict control so that only perfect berries go through. The stalks are removed from the grapes without squeezing them. Grapes are maintained in controlled conditions, with long macerations at low temperatures in oak casks with the cap submerged. The must is naturally pumped over using gravity in order to achieve the best extraction of polyphenols.