2017 LAN, Culmen Rioja Reserva, 6x750ml

2017 LAN, Culmen Rioja Reserva, 6x750ml

2017 LAN, Culmen Rioja Reserva

Availability: 1-2 weeks

Case size: 6 / Bottle size: 750ml

Duty Status
From £300.00

Critics Score: 94

Publication: James Suckling

Drinking Dates: 2024+

A deep and ambitiously structured Rioja with an array of fresh blue and black fruit, as well as classy oak spices and sandalwood. Full bodied and juicy, loaded with polished tannins, but the fruit core remains dry and elegant without superfluous sweetness. Ending long and spicy. A little tight and monolithic now, so give it a year or two to evolve and soften more.
2017 LAN, Culmen Rioja Reserva

PRODUCER
Founded in 1972, Bodegas LAN lies in the heart of Rioja Alta and boasts one of the most spectacular single-vineyard sites in the region: Viña Lanciano. The name LAN comes from the initials of the three provinces of the Rioja Designation of Origin: Logroño, Álava and Navarra. María Barúa has been the head winemaker
and technical director since 2002, and brings both scientific expertise (with an academic background in chemistry in addition to her oenology degree) and local knowledge (having been born and raised in Rioja). Together with her young and energetic team, María focuses on using the latest advances in winemaking to
‘express the virtues of the land’.

VINEYARDS
The Tempranillo and Graciano grapes for the 'Culmen', meaning 'epitome', come from 'Pago El Rincón', the top parcel within the ‘Viña Lanciano’ vineyard. Viña Lanciano is one of the most spectacular single vineyards in Rioja, surrounded by a bend of the River Ebro. The 'El Rincón' plot boasts bush vines of up to 60 years of age, which produce small yields of very concentrated fruit. The vines are planted on poor stony soils on the south-facing slopes of the 'El Rincón' mount, at up to 491 metres above sea level. Warm days followed by cool nights ensure an ideally paced ripening and the grapes accumulate great intensity of flavour whilst retaining a balancing natural acidity. All of the grapes are hand harvested and sustainable practices are followed.

VINIFICATION
The grapes underwent a thorough sorting by bunch and were then destemmed and sorted again by berry to ensure that only pristine fruit made it into the wine. The berries were then lightly crushed and fermented in small, cone-shaped, temperature controlled stainless-steel tanks. The wine was then racked from tank into new 225-litre French oak barriques from the Tronçais and Jupille forests where it underwent malolactic fermentation and 25 months ageing. The wine was then aged for a further 22 months in bottle in the Bodegas LAN cellars in Fuenmayor before release.