In the glass
Aroma: red cherry, dried herb, leather, balsamic
Palate: cranberry, savoury spice, fine tannin, saline
The house's entry red and arguably the best-value traditional Rioja Crianza: already complex, savoury and high-acid, drinking like many estates' Reserva.
What it pairs with
-
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
Find chuleton de buey a la brasa on TableJourney →
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.
History
Cubillo is the youngest red in the Lopez de Heredia range yet still spends about three years in oak, far longer than the legal Crianza minimum, making it a benchmark value traditional Rioja.
- 1947 — Vina Cubillo introduced as the house Crianza
Facts
- Producer
- R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia
- Grapes
- Tempranillo (65%), Garnacha (25%), Graciano (5%), Mazuelo (5%)
- Classification
- DOCa Rioja
- Oak
- Around 3 years in American oak barrels with biannual racking
- ABV
- 13.0%
- Price
- EUR 18 to 28 at retail
- Drinking window
- 3 to 15 from vintage
- First vintage
- 1947
Scores
- Tim Atkin 92 (2015 vintage, reviewed 2022)