Urbina Gran Reserva Especial Rioja 2004, Bodegas Urbina

Description

Urbina Gran Reserva Especial Rioja is the latest Gran Reserva Especial release. The blue Urbina label signifies that this wine is produced from their older vines (the red labels, found on their Crianza, means the wine is made from younger vines). Urbina only designates their wines as “Especial” if they are made in a vintage, like 2004, that is classified as “Excelente” or excellent by the Consejo Regulador DOC Rioja.

History of Urbina

The origins of Bodegas Urbina can be traced back to 1870  when Salvador Urbina first began producing wines using the Urbina name. In 1975 the family decided to bottle and age all of the wine made themselves, rather than selling grapes to other wine producers, and the single estate Urbina Rioja wines were created. Today the winery remains family-owned and is run by the fourth generation, Angel, Pedro and Santiago. The Bodega is well-known for ageing their wines for a lot longer than other Rioja producers before releasing them to the market. These wines are a must-try for fans of mature wines – there is no substitute for time!

Bodegas Urbina Vineyards

The winery is located in the village of Cuzcurrita de Rio Tiron on the north-western boundary of DOC Rioja. The estate comprises 75 hectares of vineyards at two main vineyard sites. The first site is near the winery at Cuzcurrita de Rio Turon, an area well-known for producing Riojas capable of ageing for many years ideal for Gran Reservas. The other vineyards are located at Uruñuela, in the heart of the Rioja DOC, which consistently produces wines of great quality and body. The vineyards are planted with 65 hectares of Tempranillo and the remaining 10 hectares are planted with Graciano, Mazuelo and Viura.

Bodegas Urbina produces 300,000 bottles of red Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva. These classic, elegant and stylish red Rioja wines have more recently been joined by a white Crianza, a white Reserva and a new sparkling wine called Valle del Angel Vintage Sparkling which is made from old vine Viura using the ‘Traditional Method’ (Champenoise).

As single-estate wines, all of the wines are made from grapes sourced from estate vineyards. The vineyards are cultivated using traditional methods: harvesting is done by hand and there is little, or no, use of weed killers and pesticides. Additionally, any fertilisers used are organic. Only indigenous yeasts are used in the wine-making process which, combined with the terroir, gives Urbina wines their unique personality. Most recently, there has been a large investment in modern winery equipment, stainless steel fermentation tanks and bottling plant.

Urbina Gran Reserva Especial is a blend of 90% Tempranillo, 5%  Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. This wine is produced from the best grapes from the Estate vineyards around Cuzcurrita de Rio Tiron, all from vines over 20 years. Fermentation takes place at 28C with a 28 day maceration. The wine is aged for 30 months in 95% American & 5% French 225 litre oak barrels (2-16 years old), with racking every 6 months, and ageing at least 48 months in bottle.