Campo Viejo Rioja Gran Reserva

They’re the world’s leading Rioja wine brand. They ship around 2 million cases globally every year. They’re the #1 selling Spanish wine brand in the UK (and the Brits love to guzzle their Spanish reds). Wow! Whatever Campo Viejo (that’s “KAHM-poh VYAY-hoh“) is doing to their grapes back there at their estate in La Rioja, they’re on the money!

Rioja in north-east Spain is one of the world’s famous wine growing regions. Tempranillo (tem-prah-nee-yoh) is the signature grape in these parts and their “Gran Reserva” label is Campo’s flagship Rioja blend of 85% Tempranillo with 15% of the lesser known Graciano and Mazuelo grapes. These indigenous Rioja grapes help add freshness, aroma and colour to the wine. After 24 months in oak they chuck it in their vast cellars for a staggering 36 months to age in the bottle. The wine is aged for a total of cinco anos (that’s five years our in house Spanish expert tells us).

When we say vast cellars we ain’t kidding. Head along to the Campo Viejo winery and you’ll see vineyards and countryside with a back drop of mountains. Plus a couple of small buildings. Wait. Aren’t these guys one of the world’s top Spanish wine producers? Where’s the juice at? It’s underground!

Yep, in 2001 Campo Viejo asked a top Spanish architect to redesign their winery. The guy decided the view was far too good to touch so he designed the 45,000 metre squared winery to be built underground!

This is a true example of classy, well aged European red. A rich, robust and complex wine that after a fair amount of time down in the cellars has mellowed into a smooth, silky red of obvious class. Pair it with grilled and roasted red meat dishes and game meats. If you’ve got the cheese board out go for mature, blue styles. No need to cellar this one for much longer, that’s been done for you!