FINCA DE LOS LOCOS

A very smart wine! Rioja with a real sense of place, the limestone giving a wine with energy and drive, a hint of oak feels tight-grained and emphasises the long linear feel to this classic wine. Already extremely impressive, this will gain with more bottle age. Arturo and Kike's father may have been thought mad to buy this vineyard (hence the name), but his faith in it is fully demonstrated in this wine. Drinking range: 2016 - 2025L&S (Mar 2016)

Very ripe and modern showing plentiful aromas and great depth, dark ripe plums, ripe cherries, cranberry jam, toasted oak, green leaves and a touch of spice. Very consistent and balanced on the palate, with generous sweet fruit and fleshy ripe tannins. Superb texture and rich fruit. The wine is more physical than elegant but is really terrific. Where does this surprising savoury fruit come from? Unusual richness for a rioja. Drinking range: 2017 - 2025 Rating: 18 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Feb 2017)

The 2014 Finca de Los Locos comes from a single 2.8-hectare vineyard in the village of Baños de Ebro, where the winery is located. The vineyard, which was purchased by the grandfather of the current generation, is a terraced vineyard overlooking the Ebro River on a gravel soils. It's Tempranillo with some 20% Graciano with a clear herbal twist with a chalky, somehow minty character that made me think of a cooler climate red; it somehow transported me to Chinon, but with the faint balsamic aromas of some Mediterranean herbs. The palate shows really chalky tannins, very mineral, somehow austere, with character and an elegant rusticity. There is some 22-24% active limestone in the soil of the vineyard, and that clearly shows in the wine. This is a superb improvement, where the wine shows the character of the place. It should age nicely. Some 8,500 bottles produced. Rating: 92 Luis Gutierrez, www.robertparker.com (Aug 2016)