Bodegas Baigorri

A deliciously full and satisfying crianza from one of the Rioja region's landmark wineries, a striking building on seven levels that looks out over the Baigorri vines.

Attractive and complex aromas of red and black fruits are given breadth by suggestions of tobacco and leather from the wines' fourteen months in French and American oak.

Although this is a full, powerful wine, there's a freshness and juiciness that balances the rich flavours and subtle depths and makes this a very impressive all-rounder: bright enough for lighter meals and snacks, but with plenty of oomph for steaks, stews and game too.

This is the potent and intense Reserva-level Rioja from Bodegas Baigorri, a landmark tiered winery that commands a panoramic view over the vines of the estate.

The dark livery of the bottle anticipates the contents' rich, enticing aromas of dark fruits and raspberry and strawberry jam, with suggestions of the layers of flavour to come. It's a full-bodied wine that reveals a harmony of flavours on the palate from juicy red fruits through smooth, plummy depths to much darker, deeper hints of cocoa and leather from its eighteen months in new oak.

This balance of freshness and intensity makes Baigorri Reserva an obvious choice for red meat dishes, but its finesse means that it wouldn't overpower lighter meals, and it might do very well with a ratatouille or rich vegetable recipes too.

Mazuelo, also known as Carignan, is one of five permitted varieties in red Rioja, and in Baigorri's 'Belus' blend it is combined with small amounts of Tempranillo and Garnacha fruit to give a Rioja with a distinct character and presence.

Mazuelo contributes rich colour, relatively high alcohol and firm tannins to the blend, and complements the rounded red fruit flavours of Tempranillo and the power and aromatic intensity of Garnacha (elsewhere Grenache).

Fresh and elegant, this subtle, smooth red has complex aromas, with rewarding, muscular fruit and generous body on the palate. The finish is long and mellow, with fine-grained tannins.

The full flavours and creamy texture of this oaked white Rioja from old vines are likely to please fans of Californian Chardonnay, although the grapes are Viura—known elsewhere in Spain as Macabeo—and the local Malvasía Riojana.

There are aromas of peach and a mineral citrus peel note balancing the influence of the French oak barrels.

In the mouth, a rich, unctuous creaminess swirls around layers of tropical fruit: melon, pineapple and banana and the bright juiciness of the Viura before a long, supple finish.

Bold and rounded, this wine, fermented and aged on the lees for eight months in barrel, is very well suited to oily fish or seafood in a cream sauce as well as charcuterie and poultry.

To allow all its depths of honeyed richness to develop, don't over-chill the bottle, and give the wine a while to breathe before serving.