Gran Familia Rioja Reserva

One of the world’s famous wine growing regions, Rioja is traditionally a blend of Tempranillo (temp-rah-knee-oh) and Grenache (gren-ash) grown only in the La Rioja region of Spain.

If you’re a regular slurper of good quality Spanish red you might’ve heard of Gran Familia (one of the top brands in the UK and imported into NZ by a Master of Wine, Steve Bennett) – well this guy is its big brother and for a few bucks extra you’re getting a whole lot more wine.

To be labelled Reserva it has to follow strict Rioja wine laws – aged for a minimum of 3 years including 12 months in oak. It comes packaged in fancy gold wire wrap this is a beautifully aged, smooth and mellow with plenty of bold, powerful red fruit flavours. We loved it, and a couple of local critics…

4 1/2 Stars (Sam Kim) – “A beautifully maturing red…wonderfully flavoursome”
4 Stars, 91/100 (Bob Campbell MW) – “Mellow, smooth-textured red showing obvious bottle age… impressive red offering value at this price”
4 Stars (Raymond Chan) – “ lush, sweet and savoury red berry-fruited Rioja with spicy, cedary oak and secondary notes on a fine, supple palate.”

Dust off the cork screw (you’ll need it here!) and pair this Spanish beauty with roasted and grilled red meats, especially lamb.