In the glass
Aroma: dried cherry, tobacco, cedar, balsamic, spice
Palate: macerated red fruit, leather, fine tannin, savoury
The internationally famous frosted-bottle Gran Reserva: long-aged, savoury and dried-fruit-led in a classical style, one of the world's best-known Rioja labels.
What it pairs with
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Cordero asado al sarmiento
Vine-shoot-roasted suckling lamb is the canonical Rioja match; the wine's resolved tannins frame the sweet fat. -
Chuleton de buey a la brasa
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A thick aged-beef chop over embers meets the wine's savoury oak and grip. -
Jamon iberico
Cured Iberian ham echoes the wine's dried-cherry and leather register. -
Roast partridge
Game and the wine's tobacco depth align.
History
Faustino I, in its etched frosted bottle, became one of the most exported Gran Reservas in the world.
- 1960 — Faustino I frosted-bottle Gran Reserva established
Facts
- Producer
- Bodegas Faustino
- Grapes
- Tempranillo (85%), Graciano (8%), Mazuelo (7%)
- Classification
- DOCa Rioja
- Oak
- Around 24 to 30 months in oak, then long bottle ageing
- ABV
- 13.5%
- Price
- EUR 18 to 30 at retail
- Drinking window
- 8 to 25 from vintage
- First vintage
- 1960
Scores
- Tim Atkin 90 (2012 vintage, reviewed 2021)