Viña Monty Graciano Reserva 2016

The late-budding and late-ripening Graciano is, in our warming times, a variety of increasing significance in Rioja, so we shouldn’t be surprised that a pure-Graciano Rioja emerged for the first time in our Best In Show selection this year. No youngster, though: this 2016 Reserva wine shows just how well this sometimes forbidding variety can perform in Rioja, given a suitable site and some age. In the glass, you’d guess that the wine was at least five years younger than it is: it’s still an opaque black-red. The aromas are pure and fresh, reminiscent as much of plants as of fruits, while the only palpable sweetness comes from the wine’s 28 months in oak. On the palate, you’ll find the wine firm and almost stern, with ample tannin and a fresh fruit core reminiscent of blueberries and damsons; there’s some root spice, too. Definitely a food choice, showing Rioja’s terroir in an unusual and dramatic light.