Remelluri, Tempranillo Reserva, Rioja, Spain, 2009

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Overview The Wine
The Remelluri estate’s origins date back to the fourteenth century when monks from the Toloño monastery founded a sanctuary and farm at the site. The monks later abandoned the area, but local hermits continued to maintain the shrine there while the Real Divisa, a local community organization, maintained the farms to accommodate the needs of pilgrims who came to pray at the sanctuary. The estate was eventually split up and sold. The modern winery was established in 1967 when Jaime Rodríguez Salis purchased the vineyards at the heart of the former estate. Since then Remelluri has been devoted to recovering the old lands of this historic estate and restoring the original vineyards.

Remelluri’s vineyards are located along the slopes of the Sierra de Toloño mountains in the valleys of Valderemelluri, La Granja and Villaescusa. The vineyards here are at the highest elevation in the region, south-facing and protected from the prevailing winds and frost. It is the unique micro-climate of this area that gives the wines of Remelluri their personality.

Organic.

Grape/Blend
Tempranillo

Origin
Rioja, Spain

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
This 2009 Reserva is a direct, authentic cellar release of guaranteed provenance, stored under optimal conditions at Remelluri in Labastida, Rioja, until refrigerated shipment to the US in the autumn of 2023. It was selected by Remelluri owner and winemaker Telmo Rodríguez for the exceptional nature of the vintage and beautiful evolution of the wine, offering a fully-cellared Reserva expression from Remelluri to the market. While the 2009 vintage has recently entered into its ideal drinking window, it will undoubtedly repay additional cellar time, offering enjoyment for a decade or more to come.

2009 is among the top vintages of the decade, along with 2004 and 2005. 2009 Remelluri Reserva features aromas of wild earthy red fruit intermixed with notes of vanilla and cinnamon, and a satiny texture with round, fine-grained tannins in a classical and very well-structured style. This is a great vintage for Remelluri Reserva that is drinking well now, yet will age gracefully for another decade or more. The growth cycle ran around 10 days earlier than previous years, starting with flowering in May/June. High summer temperatures provided good alcoholic maturity, with phenolic ripeness occurring much later into September and October. Low rainfall in the summer months reduced quantity and concentrated the grape skin-to-juice ratio, resulting in a powerful red wine with good aging potential. Hydric stress was lessened by rainfall on 16-18 September, which helped balance the phenolic and alcoholic maturity of the grapes. From this point onwards, the weather conditions were sunny and dry until the end of the harvest, allowing the grapes to reach perfect maturity with little incidence of vineyard diseases.

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Remelluri Reserva aims at showing the character of Remelluri, as this is the first modern vintage that does not have grapes purchased from external suppliers. These grapes are now in the Lindes range of wines, but in the past they were blended with the estate grapes. The cool Remelluri vineyards behave very well in warmer years. This 2009 is very clean with predominant aromas of earthy red fruit intermixed with notes of vanilla and cinnamon, a satin texture with round, fine-grained tannins and quite classical and very well-proportioned style. This is a great vintage for Remelluri Reserva.

Product size: 750ml