La Rioja Alta Vina Arana, Rioja, Gran Reserva 2015

Katie here. GUESS WHAT?? Next Wednesday, August 28, is National Red Wine Day! We do love red wine. There are SO many wines with which you could go celebrate this day, but here’s one I had recently with a friend that I figured I’d share. This is my friend who is only occasionally in town, as he’s usually all over the world, so I wanted to go pick up our favorite Rioja Gran Reserva—but it wasn’t in stock! 😱

Time to find a new fantastic Rioja. I decided to go with the same winemaker, La Rioja Alta, who has never failed me yet. They have another Gran Reserva that was begging to be tried, with grapes coming from different vineyards than my favorite of theirs, the 904 Gran Reserva:

La Rioja Alta, Viña Arana, Rioja, Gran Reserva 2015

You simply can’t go wrong with wines from La Rioja Alta. Their wines are always good, and this is no exception. Right on the nose, it has all the smells I love in Rioja—that smell of fresh, damp mulch, or a damp forest floor, like going on a walk through the woods right after it rains. It also smells to me like warm, ripe strawberries and dark cherries, but also leather and sweet tobacco. It’s a mashup of red fruits and earthiness, and I love it. Because it’s aged in oak, there’s also a bit of vanilla bean and toffee in there just to make it more interesting. Try this one, I hope you love it like I did!

This is selling for $58 at Jacob Liquor.