Real de Asúa Reserva Rioja 1999

Frost decimated the production, so this had natural concentration in its youth and is silky in texture today, with a savoury edge of turmeric and tobacco, sweet strawberry puree and liliting acidities that add touches of mandarin rind and liqourice root. Extremely drinkable, signature Rioja touches of smoked oak, soft on the finish. 18 months in barrel, then 18 months in bottle for ageing, and a successful vintage back after making no 1997 or 1998. New label also, at a time where Rioja overall was enjoying an investment boom, with a rash of new wineries were being built and a wave of modern producers focusing on fruit, tannins and oak, but despite the fact that internally within CUVE this remained an experimental bottling, its Reserva name marked it out as traditional within the wider landscape.