2014 Vina Arana Gran Reserva

Limpid ruby-red. Oak-spiced cherry, black raspberry, candied rose, spicecake and coconut aromas show very good definition and pick up tobacco and licorice notes as the wine opens up. Smooth and appealingly sweet, offering sappy cherry cola, fruitcake, coconut and floral pastille flavors complemented by an earthy undertone. Shows very good energy and floral lift on a long, smoky finish framed by velvety, well-knit tannins.

The aim with the 2014 Viña Arana Gran Reserva is to find a new Gran Reserva style that combines freshness and joy with intensity, sophistication and aging potential through a blend of Tempranillo with 6% Graciano that matured in American oak barrels for three years with rackings every six months. 2014 was a weaker year in the region, and the wine shows it and feels less vivacious than the 2015 Viña Alberdi. It has medium ripeness and abundant spicy and smoky notes and a medium-bodied palate with a soft texture that points at a wine for shorter-term consumption than the rest of the portfolio or other vintages from this cuvée. 80,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2018.

Lots of mushroom and walnut aromas with plum and leather, too. It’s full-bodied, but very soft and creamy-textured with lots of old wood, mushroom and ripe fruit on the finish. Some chocolate and hazelnut. Complex and gorgeous. Drink or hold.