Wines (48 View)

98 points James Suckling
#57 Top 100 Wines of Spain 2024: The 2011 is a forgotten vintage after the famous 2010, but you shouldn't forget it if you are a smart buyer. Aromas of vanilla, orange peel, black walnuts, truffles, toffee, black sesame, balsam and moss. So savory yet juicy and vibrant, with a long, long finish. So much pleasure here. A little less vertical than the 2010, but so linear and endless. Drink or hold.

97 points Jeb Dunnuck
A special wine, newly released from an excellent vintage, the 2011 Gran Reserva 890 is a vineyard-selection of high-altitude sites and includes 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo. The Mazuelo was co-fermented with the 95% Tempranillo and spent six years in American oak, during which the best barrels were selected for this wine, followed by six years in bottle; bottling took place July 2018. Tannins attack the front of the medium-bodied palate and melt, finding an enduring freshness through the midpalate and lengthy finish. There's a savory woody character that dominates over subtle red plum and cherry fruit. This should continue to age well a good 10-12 years.

97 points Tim Atkin
An impressive follow up to the 2010 release, produced in the warmer 2011 vintage, this cuvée of Tempranillo, 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo uses grapes from Brinas, Fuenmayor, Labastida and Villalba and is one of the glories of Rioja. Complex, balsamic and appealingly traditional, it has layers of clove, leather and tobacco leaf, some sweet Asian spices, and raspberry and wild strawberry fruit complemented by a volatile lift. 2027-2040

96 points Wine Advocate
After the otherworldly 2010 comes the 2011 Gran Reserva 890, their longest-aging red, matured in used American oak barrels for six years and produced just three or four times per decade. It's mostly Tempranillo with 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo, with the Graciano vinified separately. 2011 was a warm and ripe year, but the wine has medium ripeness and 14% alcohol, with a pH of 3.7 and 5.8 grams of acidity. It has a tertiary nose, with notes of wet fur, leather, truffles, spices, earth and forest floor, decayed leaves and a hint of smoke. The palate was velvety, with fully resolved tannins and a long and very tasty finish. 60,956 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2016.

95 points Vinous 95
The 2011 Gran Reserva 890 from Rioja Alta is a fully evolved red. Already mahogany in hue, it's steeped in tertiary complexity. Aromas include wild herbs like thyme and oregano alongside hints of cola and licorice, clearly revealing its maturity. This is silky and vibrant, with tension and finely polished tannins that glide across the palate. There's precision to the development here. This gradually unfurls notes of black olive, a faint tarry edge and a medley of herbal tones. It is a classic Rioja of depth and elegance. The animal whiff on the finish is subtle, more an indication of character than a flaw, adding an extra layer to its sophisticated composition.

#53 On The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines Of 2024!

93 points Wine Spectator
Richly savory on the nose, this fresh, sinewy red features a minerally underpinning of petrol, earth, iron and salt to the flavors of juicy dried cherry and cranberry, red licorice and mandarin orange peel. Opens nicely in the glass and on the palate, with the persistent finish showing aromatic herbs and spices, plus more mineral notes. Tempranillo, Garnacho, Graciano and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2031.

94 points Wine Advocate
The 2011 Viña Tondonia Reserva is darker and shows riper fruit, a rounder palate and some dusty tannins. A year of ripeness, concentration and tannin, the wine is powerful with the finesse of Tondonia. Tasting this next to the textbook 2010 Tondonia revealed how this has more muscle and a wider back and the 2010 epitomizes the finesse and elegance. 270,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2019.

96 pts Wine Advocate
The Unico released in 2021, 10 years after the harvest, is the 2011 Unico, selected from 40 of their 210 hectares of vineyards. 2011 is a concentrated and ripe vintage, and they selected 95% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon that were cooled in a cold room for 24 hours before being sorted; the bunches and grapes macerated at 9 to 10 degrees Celsius for three to four days, and then it was inoculated with a pied de cuve to ferment with pumping overs. Malolactic was in stainless steel, and the wine was put through a long aging, 10 years between oak and bottle, using new and used French and American oak barrels and 20,000-liter oak vats. For Vega Sicilia, 2011 was a fresher year than 2010, not the common idea about those vintages in Ribera del Duero. The wine has a developed nose with some notes of ripe black fruit, meat and underbrush, somewhat herbal and perfumed. There is something about the nose of the Unicos that I cannot quite describe but is quite distinct, and it's in this vintage and also in the Reserva Especial.

The top Barbera from the leading producer in the Colli Tortonesi (southeast Piemonte), and one of a handful of truly age-worthy Barberas. This wine, along with Sentieri and Fuso, demonstrates that Walter Massa is an able and versatile “Barberista”, in addition to having the magic touch with Timorasso.

Native yeasts. Aging in used barriques for about two years and at least an additional year in bottle. No filtration. All the classic Barbera cherry and raspberry fruit, with the grape’s high acidity honed into a tightly-knit complexity. One of the few Barbaras that age and become more complex.

Walter Massa is the real deal: a contadino (farmer) with deep family roots in his native Colli Tortonesi who’s usually plowing his vineyards or buzzing around his cellar when someone arrives for a visit. He’ll then stop to spend hours showing around, pouring wines for, and talking with the continual waves of journalists, sommeliers, importers, buyers, and just plain fans who make their way to his village of Monleale in the southeast corner of Piemonte. Massa is universally known as the Maestro of Timorasso — he rescued it from obscurity and near-extinction and now leads a mini-renaissance of the variety in the Colli Tortonesi. But he also produces amazing and distinctive reds from the local varieties Barbera, Croatina, Freisa, and Nebbiolo.

Organic

95 points Jeb Dunnuck
In contrast, the 2011 El Puntido Gran Reserva comes from a slightly cooler vintage, and it too is 100% Tempranillo from the El Puntido Vineyard. It has cooler red and black fruits as well as beautiful spice, leafy herb, chocolate, and tobacco notes. Medium-bodied on the palate, I love its overall balance, mid-palate depth, and length, and it's drinking brilliantly today, with another decade or more of overall longevity. Drink: 2024-2034. (7/3/24)

93 points Vinous
The 2011 Gran Reserva El Puntido is 100% Tempranillo sourced from a vineyard planted in 1976 in P??ganos, Rioja Alavesa. Aged for 28 months in French oak barrels, this garnet wine with a brick sheen displays notes of menthol, dried figs, cedar, clove, blackberry and cassis, with hints of licorice. Indulgent, intense and overwhelming, the rich palate lingers long with a ripe, evolved flavor. Despite its rapid evolution, the 2011 still embodies the nuanced spirit of Puntido, albeit in a riper style. Drink: 2024-2036.