Faustino Rivera Ulecia Gran Reserva 2016

Faustino Rivera Ulecia Gran Reserva 2016
$75, 13.5% alcohol, cork, Rioja (Spain)

You have to admire the restraint, the elegance, the finesse. This wine feels cool and well balanced, in the most positive of ways, with pippy strawberry and red berry flavours adorned attractively with blond tobacco, general fragrant herbs and twiggy spice notes. It’s complex and seamless at once, and while it’s well sustained through the finish, it feels neat-as-a-pin throughout. This wine is more about finesse than it is about brute force, and accordingly it is an absolute delight to drink. 94 points.