The vineyards: Balance and harmony are the keys to a good reserva. Nothing should be missing and nothing should stand out: fruitiness, intensity, structure, length and personality must be in unison like in a good orchestra. This is what we are looking for with this wine from vineyards planted in the 1960s on poor soils, on limestone slopes facing southeast in our village of Briones.
GRAPES: A classic blend of Rioja Alta: Tempranillo (96%) supplemented with a little Graciano (4%), which brings fruit and energy.
THE YEAR: 2018 was a very cool year with heavy rainfall in the spring. We had to be very careful in the vineyards because fungus attacks were very likely. The harvests were generous. The oldest vines have reached fantastic quality with concentration and freshness. For the youngest vines, the green harvest was essential to achieve a good level of maturity.
VINIFICATION: The grapes are harvested by hand in 15 kg plastic crates. They are then placed cluster by cluster on the sorting table. Neither pre nor post maceration: we carry out a controlled fermentation in small stainless steel tanks where we try to respect all the nuances and subtleties of our grapes. The malolactic fermentation is carried out in new barrels.
AGEING: Two years in 32 Murúa barrels (70% new) composed of American oak staves and French oak tops. The wine was racked every six months and each barrel was filled to capacity every month with the same wine to reduce oxidation. Long rest period in the bottle before being put on sale.
BOTTLED: 8600 bottles and 378 magnums of our Miguel Merino Reserva 2018.