Tasting notes : Ontanon Rioja Reserva
Ontanon Rioja Reserva. Aromas of bramble fruit with spice and lightly floral notes. On the palate plum and ripe blackberry fruit flavours combine with ample acidity, minerality and earthy notes. Therefore the tannins are smooth and supple as you would expect from a wine of this age and it is drinking beautifully.
Food Match :
Drink this Reserva with lamb, roast pork or mushroom risotto.
Region/Producer :
Reservas are only produced in years of exceptional quality. And from the most select vineyards. The Tempranillo is sourced from La Pasada, and the Graciano from La Montesa vineyard. Firstly, after a long maceration the wine spends 12 months in 60% American and 40% French oak. These are both used and new. Further followed by 24 months in bottle.
Bodegas Ontañón is a 5th generation family-owned and run winery in Rioja Baja (now Rioja Oriental). Here Raquel, Rubén and Maria Pérez Cuevas continue their father Gabriel’s work to develop Bodegas Ontañón into one of the most highly-regarded wineries in Rioja. Ontañón has vast swathes of vineyard in this part of Rioja. However, whilst wine production in the region is typically very dependent on contracts with grape growers. In fact the Pérez Cuevas family has seen fit to invest heavily in the purchase of its own land and vines. As a result its 250ha is a testament to the importance it places on controlling grape quality.
However the family’s vineyards sit high in the Sierra Yerga mountains in the prestigious region surrounding Quel. Defying misconceptions that Rioja Baja is one of the lesser sub-regions within Rioja. Many of their vineyards are actually planted at altitudes on a par with, or above, those in Rioja Alta and Alavesa. La Pasada is their highest vineyard at 800m above sea level, planted in 1979 it is used for Reserva and Gran Reserva wines. That is to say the hot and dry Mediterranean climate allows for consistent ripening of the grapes with little disease and this has enabled them to pursue organic production across 57 hectares of vines.
