Bodegas Campillo Gran Reserva Rioja 2009
Clean and bright cherry coloured, it is with a ruby rim. With tight and dense colour, it can keep some years. This wine would need some time in the glass to augment the first nose that of ripe red fruit, lactic and spicy notes (nutmeg and cloves) to turn complicated(fragrances, toasted, smoked, liquorice and sweet spiced, nuances of beautiful wood like leather/leaf pencil and balsamic). The palate reflects the nose. The first attack is silky, with good acidity and never cloying. There are polished tannin, juicy, broad, with an excellent structure and 14.5% ABV. This bodied wine embodied both modern(in new Allier oak, elegant, lean alcohol, silky) and classic styles(tertiary tones, red fruit profile) of Rioja.
To us, this bottle is even more elegant than Faustino Grand Reserve 2009 we wrote earlier. This blend of 90 percent Tempranillo and 10 percent Graciano comes from a single parcel in Rioja Alavesa, ‘Villa Lucia’, planted at an altitude of 650 meters. Part of the Faustino Group, Bodegas Campillo is arguably the most spectacular winery on view from the ancient walls at the hilltop of Laguardia in Rioja Alavesa. In 1990, Julio Faustino Martínez fulfilled his dream of building a Riojan 'château' surrounded by vineyards. No expense spared in its construction: natural stone facade, a porch with semicircular arches, wood and masonry corbels, gothic-style stone vaults. The grapes used come from centuries-old vines with little yield, which allows a high concentration of aroma and flavours in each of the grains. The harvest is carried out with the utmost care, using small boxes so as not to damage the harvested grapes. Upon entering the winery, the most appropriate bunches selected and used for winemaking. The wine is aged in new French Allier barrels for 30 months.
Impressive scores, such as:
95 Points, Decanter Asia Wine Awards
“Dark cherries, vanilla, sweet spice, strawberry and red berry fruits are woven through the long and fresh palate. A refined wine that does itself proud with its long finish, stupendous finesse and seamlessly integrated, ripe tannins.”
93 Points, Antonio Galloni
“Ripe dark berry, cherry preserve, mocha and floral aromas are complicated by cola and vanilla flourishes. Intense blackberry, bitter cherry and spice cake flavors deepen slowly and pick up a sweetening touch of mocha on the back half. Rich yet energetic as well, showing excellent delineation on an emphatically fruity, impressively persistent finish shaped by smooth, harmonious tannins.”
93 Points, James Suckling
“A strong vintage with medium body. Dark, earthy plums and red cherries, spices and hints of earth and leather here. Good balance and persistence. Drink now and for the next decade. Elegant.”
