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92 | Wine Review Online | This is very well made Rioja Reserva that shows the generosity of a warm year but still manages to display regional typicity. There’s enough oak in the mix to require some aeration, but the wine shows quite well after an hour, and beautifully after two. In terms of weight, it is really just medium-bodied, but it is fully flavored when the spicy, toasty oak joins forces with the fruit’s impact on the palate. The oak pulls up short of the fruit in the finish, which is exactly what makes the wine so enjoyable, whereas lots of renditions of Rioja Reserva suffer from astringent finishes with wood tannin killing the sweetness of the fruit. The blend is 85% Tempranillo 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. With time to loosen up, the overall impression is soft and invitingly deep and plush on the palate, and there’s no doubt this excellent now but looking at 5 to 7 very promising years ahead. Michael Franz - November 3., 2020 |
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92 | Wine Spectator | This big red offers ripe, fresh fruit flavors of black cherry and plum, in a plump texture kept balanced by firm tannins and lively acidity. Harmonious, still youthful. Drink now through 2030. 4,500 cases made, 1,500 cases imported. Thomas Matthews - August 31, 2021 |
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92 | Vinous Media | Deep violet. Spice- and mineral-tinged scents of fresh cherry, dark berries and spicecake are complemented by a candied rose accent. Juicy and pliant in the mouth, offering smoky black raspberry, cherry cola, vanilla and cracked pepper flavors that deepen steadily on the back half. In an energetic style, showing fine clarity and silky tannins that frame a long, focused finish. Raised in French and American oak barrels for 18 months. 2023 – 2032 Josh Raynolds - April 2021 |
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92 | View from the Cellar | The 2015 Reserva bottling from Viña Otano has a slightly different cépages than the 2017 Crianza, as the blend here is eighty percent tempranillo, fifteen percent graciano and five percent Mazuelo. The grapes are again hand-harvested and aged in a combination of older French and American casks, for eighteen months in this case, followed by three years of bottle aging in the cellars. The wine is really quite good on the nose, wafting from the glass in a mix of cherries, raspberries, cloves, cedar, a Chambolle-Musigny-like touch of mustard seed, a fine base of soil and a topnote of bonfires. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and starting to get nicely velvety on the attack, with a lovely core of red fruit, good soil undertow, still a bit of backend tannins and a long, well-balanced, tangy and complex finish. This is really very good Rioja! It is quite approachable today, but still shows some tannin on the finish and will drink even better with a bit more time in the cellar. 2022-2065. John Gilman - Issue # 98 March/April 2022 |
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91 | Washington Wine Blog | The 2015 ‘Reserva’ Rioja by Vina Otano has a touch of Manzuelo and Graciano blended in, as this was aged for eighteen months in oak before bottling. The lovely freshness, weight and sense of salinity entices as bright red fruits dance with citrus rind and damp earth tones on the palate. Every bit outstanding at this stage, the 2015 Vina Otano ‘Reserva’ Rioja will enjoy another decade or more of life ahead of it. Drink 2020-2030. Dr. Owen J. Bargreen, CS - July 2020 |
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93 | OwenBargreen.com | The gorgeous 2016 Vina Otano ‘Reserva’ Rioja is shining brightly now at the eight year mark. This was stored for 18 months in French and American oak barrels and then a further 30 months in barrel before bottling. This is wonderfully concentrated on the palate, displaying rich red and dark fruit flavors alongside garrigue, tar and exotic spices. Enjoy this beauty now and over the next ten plus years. Drink 2023-2033- Owen Bargreen - October, 2023 |
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91 | View from the Cellar | The 2016 Rioja “Reserva” from Viña Otano is crafted from a cépages of eighty-five percent Tempranillo, ten percent Graciano and five percent Mazuelo. The wine is aged in a combination of French and American oak barrels for eighteen months prior to bottling and an additional two and a half years in the bottle prior to release. The wine’s aromatic constellation is quite lovely today, wafting from the glass in a mix of red and black raspberries, Rioja spices, cigar smoke, celery seed, a fine base of soil, a hint of lavender and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is fullbodied, focused and complex, with a fine core of fruit, good soil signature, moderate tannins and fine focus and balance on the long and promising finish. This is not quite ready to drink yet, but it is not too far away and will be a very tasty bottle once the tannins soften up a bit more. A fine value. 2028-2060. John Gilman - Issue #105 May/June 2023. |
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94 | Wine Review Online | This is insanely good Rioja Reserva for the money, and in broader terms, very few wines in this price range can compete with it on grounds of versatility, complexity, sheer deliciousness, and capacity for improvement coupled with immediate accessibility. That latter attribute of being enjoyable now is partly a function of a warm growing season in 2017, yet work in the cellar contributed as well. This is only very moderately oaky, and all of the barrel influence is positive already, lending spice notes and a hint of toast, but nothing overtly woody in the aromas or flavors, and virtually no wood tannins riding atop the tannin derived from the grapes. Moreover, the grapes were macerated and fermented in a moderate manner, resulting in a wine that is both generous and graceful—already. The blend is 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, and 5% Mazuelo, and the fruit profile shows dark cherries, red and black berries, and a hint of dark plums as well. Medium-bodied but very expressive in aroma and flavor, this would get along very nicely with a simple roasted chicken, yet would also be wonderful with grilled lamb chops. This producer took full advantage of the 2017 vintage—accessing all of its virtues while avoiding its potential pitfalls. Michael Franz; Dec 4, 2024. |
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93 | OwenBargreen.com | 2017 Vina Otano ‘Reserva’ Rioja- A great wine from this vintage, the 2017 ‘Reserva’ was stored for 18 months in a combination of both French and American oak barrels before bottling. It is silky and rich throughout the drinking experience. Garrigue, tar, blackberry compote and red raspberry notes parade with salty minerals and freshly tilled soils on the palate. A enjoy to consume now, enjoy over the next ten years. Drink 2024-2034- Owen Bargreen - November 18, 2024 |
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93 | Wine Enthusiast | The scent of black cherry, mocha and sage wafts from the glass. Plush tannins support black cherry, blackberry, caramel, clove and mint tea flavors. Well-integrated acidity and a note of saline endure long after the last sip. Grapes of Spain. Editors’ Choice. . Mike Desimone, Issue October 2024 |
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91+ | View from the Cellar | The 2017 Rioja “Reserva” from Viña Otano is composed from its customary blend of eighty-five percent tempranillo, ten percent graciano and five percent mazuelo, with all of the fruit hailing from vineyards in the Rioja Alta sector. The wine is given eighteen months of élevage in cask prior to bottling and tips the scales at 14.5 percent alcohol in this vintage. It offers up a lovely aromatic constellation of black raspberries, cassis, cigar wrapper, dark soil tones, brown spices, just a touch of meatiness and cedary wood. On the palate the wine is deep, complex and full- bodied, with a good undercarriage of tannins, fine depth at the core, good soil signature and a long, poised and very nicely balanced finish. Despite being seven years of age, the 2017 Reserva really could do with a bit more time in the cellar to properly soften up its tannins. It is a lovely bottle in the making. 2030-2065. John Gilman; Issue 109, January – February 2024 |