Pago de la Jaraba

"offers up a very fine mix of black plums, black cherries, cigar wrapper, a gentle touch of spice, good soil tones and a nice base of vanillin oak... this will be a serious wine when it is ready to drink." —
John Gilman View from the Cellar
Appellation
La Jaraba D.O.P.
Grape(s)
70% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Merlot
Altitude/Soil
700-750 meters / sandy, clay, chalky, pebbles, limestone
Farming Methods
Sustainable methods
Harvest
Hand harvested into small boxes, as grapes ripen, plot by plot
Production
Alcoholic fermentation in 5,000 liter-French oak vats and malolactic fermentation in 100% new French oak barrels 225 liters
Aging
Varieties were aged, separately for 12 months in new French oak barrel, followed by additional aging in tank and bottle
Suggested Retail Price
$30
Wine Name
Scores
Downloads
Reviews
Pago de la Jaraba 2014
92 (VfC) 92 (VM) 90 (I-WR) 90 (WRO)
Score Publication Review Copy
92 View from the Cellar The 2014 Pago De La Jaraba is made from the same cépages as the Selección Especial, with the malolactic done entirely in new French barricas and the wine then aged in a mix of French and American barrels for ten months. Not surprisingly, the wine is a bit oakier on the nose than these other bottlings, but it is well done and nicely integrated into both the nose and palate. The bouquet offers up a very fine mix of black plums, black cherries, cigar wrapper, a gentle touch of spice, good soil tones and a nice base of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite elegant in profile, with a good core, impressive nascent complexity and a long, well-balanced and moderately tannic finish. This needs a few years for the tannins to soften (and the bit of oak tannin here to be absorbed more completely), but all of the constituent components are in place and this will be a serious wine when it is ready to drink. 2022-2045.
Issue #75 – May/June 2018
92 Vinous Media Deep garnet. High-toned cherry and red currant aromas pick up hints of cured tobacco, licorice and potpourri with air. Juicy, focused and lithe on the palate, offering appealingly sweet red fruit and floral pastille flavors sharpened by a peppery nuance and a touch of smoky minerality. Fine-grained tannins come in slowly on a long, smooth finish that strongly echoes the floral note. 2021- 2026
Josh Raynolds - February 2021
90 International Wine Review A blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot, this semi-opaque bottling offers forest floor, soy and lead pencil on the nose. It is soft on the attack with considerably better density than the preceding wines with notes of red fruit.
"Spanish Wines of Value and Quality" - June 20, 2019
90 Wine Review Online This is a relatively high-end wine from La Mancha, which hasn’t traditionally been known as a prominent source for fine wines. Examples such as this may change that, as this shows quite open, engaging flavors, tastefully subtle oak, soft but notable tannic structure, and very good overall proportionality and balance. The blend is 70% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. This blend of Spanish and French varieties works very well, showing open flavors (mostly black in fruit tone, but with a thin red streak also), fine-grained tannin, a bit of spice, and a relatively soft finish that will enable this to work well for sipping purposes while also doing well with food.
Michael Franz - October 30, 2018
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Pago de la Jaraba 2018
95 (WRO) 90 (VfC)
Score Publication Review Copy
95 Wine Review Online I wouldn’t blame you a bit if you thought I’d lost my mind for according 95 points for a $29 dollar wine. In fact, that isn’t where I started, initially scoring this at 93 when lining it up against the other current releases from this house, but it was quite significantly better when I checked the bottle (which was left uncorked on my tasting bench) again the next day, and on the day after that it was better still. Trust me — that is a rare occurrence. Once its charms had fully unfolded, the wine displayed perfectly integrated oak that offered spicy, toast accents to a core of fruit that was pure and fresh but also alluringly savory notes. The proportionality of the wine’s structural components is essentially perfect: Acid, fruit, tannin and wood are all evident but so well swirled together by the time the wine is fully aerated that none of them stick out, even in the finish, which is impressively long and symmetrical. Seriously impressive juice at a seriously attractive price.
Michael Franz – April 27, 2021
90 View from the Cellar The 2018 Pago de la Jaraba Tinto is composed of a blend of seventy percent tempranillo, twenty percent cabernet sauvignon and ten percent merlot. It is aged for one year in all new French oak barrels prior to bottling and comes in at 13.5 percent octane in this vintage. The wine offers up a fine bouquet of red and black cherries, La Mancha spice tones, a fine base of soil, cedary wood and a topnote of cigar smoke. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and nascently complex, with a good core, fine soil signature, moderate tannins and a long, very nicely balanced finish. For many years, I have thought of La Mancha as the D.O. with the most similarities to Rioja and this wine certainly shows this to quite a degree. This is approachable today, but will be even better with a bit of bottle age. Fine juice and an excellent value! 2020-2035+.
Issue #86 - March/April 2020
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Pago de la Jaraba 2019
94 (WRO) 92 (VfC) 92 (OB)
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94 Wine Review Online The top wine from this estate is outstanding again in the 2019 vintage. Although I scored it only a single point above the 2019 “Selección Especial” bottling, the wines are showing very differently, and accordingly should be considered differently by would-be buyers. This top bottling clearly has superior juice in the bottle, as the fruit is both more concentrated and also brighter and more intense, with a much more prominent signature from the 100% new oak barriques in which it sent through malolactic and much of its aging. Whereas the “Selección Especial” seems remarkably open in its many charms, this wine has much more headroom for improvement, though I hasten to add that it is already highly enjoyable. To be more specific, it will become more integrated as it absorbs its oak influence, even though the proportions seem just right already, and will likewise become more complex as tertiary notes emerge from bottle aging, even though it is already showing more than a one-two punch of fruit and wood. When this really hits its stride about five years from now, my score may actually look a point or two low in retrospect, which is admittedly an astonishing piece of speculation regarding a score of 94 points for a $29 wine. Buy this, and then try hard to keep your mitts off of it — difficult though that will be.
Michael Franz - March 7, 2022 Todays Featured Wine
92 View from the Cellar The 2019 Pago de La Jaraba Tinto bottling is composed from a blend this year of seventy percent tempranillo, twenty percent cabernet sauvignon and ten percent merlot. The wine is aged for one year in new French oak barricas. The vintage comes in at 13.5 percent octane and delivers a lovely, new oaky blend of red and black raspberries, complex spice tones, a touch of cola, dark soil tones, cigar smoke and a lovely framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, precise and nicely sappy at the core, with fine focus and balance, ripe, buried tannins and a long, complex finish. In past vintages, I have found this wine a touch too “modern” for my palate, but the 2019 is superbly-crafted and a great, great value! 2026-2050.
John Gilman – Issue # 98 March/April 2022
92 OwenBargreen.com A beautiful blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot, this comes from vines set in a range of soils, as this was stored in new French oak for 12 months before bottling, very smooth upon entry this offers a great range of dark fruit flavors with coffee grounds, and salty soil accents. This is already beautifully evolved wine that offers serious value. Drink 2022-2029-
Owen Bargreen - July 20, 2022
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Pago de la Jaraba 2020
94 (WRO) 91 (VfC) 91 (OB)
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94 Wine Review Online In terms of its physical properties and its flavor profile, this flagship wine from Jaraba doesn’t seem all that different from the wonderful “Selección Especial” bottling from the same 2020 vintage (which is an outright steal at $20). And yet, tasted and re-tasted over the course of two days, this shows more class or “fine-ness” in every respect — aromatic complexity, depth and breadth of flavor and texture, quality of tannins and integration of wood, and more. But the really impressive thing about this by comparison to the other wines in this producer’s phenomenal portfolio is that there’s nothing pushy about it, and there’s a nothing-to-prove self-confidence in the styling of the wine that I find very impressive (regardless of the fact that the styling was evidently not intended to impress). As a result, my considered opinion is that this is ready to enjoy already (with food and a bit of aeration, but those are more advisable than required) but also capable of years of positive development. Among the best values in all of Spain (which is saying something), this is also one of the dozen-or-so best $30 wines from anywhere in the world.
Michael Franz Dec 5, 2023
91 View from the Cellar The Pago de La Jaraba bottling is Viña Jaraba’s top cuvée, made from selected parcels in the vineyards and with malolactic fermentation taking place in all new French oak Bordeaux barrels. The cépages is the same as in the 2020 Selección Especial. The wine is given a twelve month elevage in those same new oak barrels and the 2020 version comes in at 13.5 percent octane. It offers up a deep and promising young bouquet of dark berries, black cherries, cigar wrapper, a fine base of soil, coffee bean and cedary new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite elegant in profile, with a good core of fruit, ripe tannins and fine balance on the long, youthfully complex and well balanced finish. This is a very good bottle in the making, but it will need some time in the cellar to soften up properly. 2028-2045+.
John Gilman - Issue #103 January/February 2023.
91 OwenBargreen.com A really cool blend of mainly Tempranillo (70%) with the remainder Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the 2020 Pago de La Jaraba displays lovely herbal accents on the palate, with a smooth sense of mouthfeel. Layers of chocolate and roasted dates combine with salty soils and suggestions of coffee grounds on the palate. Drink 2023-2031-
Owen Bargreen - October, 2023
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Pago de la Jaraba 2021
92 (VfC)
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92 View from the Cellar The 2021 Pago de La Jaraba from Viña Jaraba (which is their top cuvée) is crafted from a blend of seventy percent Tempranillo, twenty percent Cabernet Sauvignon and and ten percent Merlot. It comes in at 13.5 percent octane and is aged entirely in new French oak barrels for one year, with the wine undergoing malolactic fermentation in cask. The 2021 delivers a deep and complex bouquet of cassis, dark berries, cigar smoke, coffee bean, dark soil tones and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, complex and full-bodied, with lovely depth of fruit, fine-grained tannins, excellent focus and balance and a long, classy finish. This is already starting to get a bit velvety on the attack, but there is enough backend tannin that tucking it away in the cellar for five or six years is merited. It is a fine bottle in the making and a superb value! 2029-2050.
John Gilman, Issue 109, January – February 2024
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