López de Heredia 'Viña Cubillo' Crianza, Rioja, Spain 2017

The 2017 Viña Cubillo Crianza is Rioja at its traditional core—bright ruby, red fruits and earthy edges. A mix of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano, and Mazuelo lets cherry, licorice, and forest floor mingle. It’s smooth, balanced, and made for sipping with real food, not just show. “The super bargain of the portfolio has to be the red 2017 Viña Cubillo Tinto Crianza, which this year shows more development and faster aging, with more tertiary notes than the other reds from 2013 and 2014 that I tasted next to it. The frost of April 2017 killed 100% of the vegetal mass at Cubillo, and the grapes they picked were exclusively from the second generation, therefore fruit that ripened in a much shorter cycle, as the harvest was also earlier. It has notes of damp earth, mushrooms, truffles and forest floor, dry leaves and decayed flowers and herbs. It has a polished palate and is medium-bodied, with mostly resolved tannins, and it feels a little lighter. But it's still worth it. It was produce