Bodega Lanzaga 'Lanzaga' Rioja DOC

As ever and despite a difficult vintage, the 2017 vintage is lovely and complex, a fruity wine with structure, elegance and a minerally freshness. It will release its aromas and flavours more readily if decanted or swirled in the glass. ‘Lanzaga’ Rioja from Bodega Lanzaga is a light to medium-bodied wine but a serious style of Rioja with redcurrants, cherries, blackberries with chocolate and spice and a hint of oak. It has a long, silky finish. Whilst drinking nicely now, this wine has the body, fruit and tannins to evolve further in the next few years.

The 2019 vintage of Lanzaga Rioja from Bodega Lanzaga is a stunning wine from a vintage that was described by the Rioja Regulatory Council as “the” vintage in terms of quality and a wonderful expression of the terroir of Rioja. Despite the intense heat and lower yields, grape quality was excellent ensuring that the wine has complexity and elegance, with a fruity profile and a refreshing, minerally finish. On the nose, this wine presents a lovely blend of mulberries, blackberries, cherries and redcurrants with a subtle hint of oak. These aromas are complemented by notes of chocolate, spice and some savoury, meaty hints, which add to the wine’s complexity and depth. On the palate, the aromas of the Lanzaga Rioja 2019 are mirrored in the complex flavours and the fruit flavours are balanced by a refreshing minerality. The wine is medium-bodied, with a silky texture and a long, smooth finish. While this wine is drinking beautifully now, it has the body, fruit, and tannins to evolve further over the next few years. It is a serious style of Rioja that will reward those who patiently allow it to age and develop.

Recommended to drink with game, duck, goose, steak and other red meats, poultry, cheese, charcuterie and paella.

Serve at: 16 – 18°C

“Lanzaga is … the purest expression of our work in Lanciego and the main wine of our project in Rioja. Made only from a selection of the best grapes from … our 15 to 20 hectares of organic vineyards … with a very limited production. Lanzaga is a Rioja wine that has a true sense of place, a rich and complex expression of the village where it has been made. Expressive and complex on the nose with flowers, berries, cured meat, spices and minerals. Fresh and elegant on the palate with refined tannins.”

For the 2017 vintage:
94 points – Robert Parker – Aug 2021
“The 2017 Lanzaga comes from a harvest marked by the killer frost (-5 degrees Celsius) of April 27th and 28th, but the higher-altitude vines from the village of Lanciego escaped the disaster. This is a blend from their 15 to 20 hectares of organically farmed vines, all head-pruned on slopes rich in clay and limestone, mixing red and white soils, places with more sandstone, others with more marl, looking for complexity. It fermented in 6,000-liter concrete vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in 1,500- and 2,500-liter oak foudres and 225-liter barriques for 14 months. It has great balance and freshness, it’s very clean and doesn’t show any of the challenges or shortages of the harvest. It’s creamy, juicy and medium-bodied, with very fine tannins, a serious wine that changed in 2013-2014 to this complexity and depth. The vines from Lanciego didn’t suffer as much as other villages with the frost of 2017.”

Telmo Rodriguez is one of Master of Wine Tim Atkin’s top 10 Rioja producers – Decanter – Mar 2018

Wine Spectator
“Spain is probably the most dynamic wine country in Europe right now, thanks to people like Rodriguez and Eguzkiza and a younger generation that is following their example. They want to prove that Spain is not just a source for value, but a land with incredible terroirs.”

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“The current Telmo Rodriguez collection includes wine produced in eight different DOs, all of them fermented with native yeasts. The fact that quality ranges from excellent to outstanding is a tribute to his talent and attention to detail.”

For the 2019 vintage:
93 points – Guia Penin
“Colour, cherry, purple rim. Aroma, red berry notes, floral, spicy, violets, cocoa bean. Flavour, flavourful, fruity, good acidity.”

 
17/20 points – JancisRobinson.com – Nov 2023
“Deep garnet with purplish rim. Intense, rich, fragrant (but not exactly floral) and not overly sweet-smelling black fruit, the oak very much subservient to the fruit, adding just a touch of savoury spice. Rich, smooth, deep, whole-hearted and still elegant in its fruit depth. A dark, fresh, long, deliciously dry aftertaste. You could approach this now with food but it has the harmony and structure to age well for a good decade, but drink it sooner if you prefer fruit to more mature tertiary flavours. Still very youthful even if the tannins are smooth and totally integrated. One of the wines that seems effortless even though you know it wasn’t.”