Lopez de Heredia 2018 Vina Cubillo Rioja Crianza

Lopez Heredia delivered another stunning Rioja from their Cubillo vineyard with the 2017. Cubillo is the youngest López de Heredia wine in the stable, referring to the vineyard of the same name. Here, Tempranillo is grown alongside Garnacha, with a few hectares each of Mazuelo and Graciano. The average vine age is 40 years. Though it is always the most recent vintage of all their wines, it sees two years in used American oak barrels and another two in bottle prior to release, making it nearly old enough to be classified as a Gran Reserva, but they label it as "Crianza." Going above and beyond, is a hallmark of this winery and not many wineries are willing to sit on their wines as long as Lopez Heredia does.

94

94+pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"The red 2018 Viña Cubillo Tinto Crianza is pretty and attractive, fresh and aromatic, floral, the result of a challenging year with lots of rain and high humidity. This is usually the last vineyard to be harvested, and the grapes were picked late, the 26th of October. It's a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that matured in a combination of oak vats and well-seasoned American oak barrels for six years. It's elegant and clean, young and undeveloped, with very fine tannins and a sleek, polished mouthfeel. It has 13.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.0 and 6.5 grams of acidity. This could be the finest Cubillo in recent times, and it's a bargain. 120,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2024."