2018 Bodegas Manzanos Seleccion Graciano Voche Rioja Reserva 750 ml

We've been over the wall at Champagne’s mythical Clos du Mesnil. We've taken in the vast views from Urziger Würzgarten and Hermitage Hill. And when we were in Spain, we felt we had to set our eyes upon one vineyard site.

It’s known as El Barranco—“The Cliff”—a dramatic high-altitude landscape featuring a brutal mix of sand and rocks that forces vine roots deep into the soil in search of water. This forbidding terroir yields exceptionally small berries that seem hardwired to evoke the minerality and intensity of the site.

This bottle, the follow-up to our most popular Rioja of the decade, hails from the oldest block of the Graciano grape in the world: six-hectare site planted by Bodegas Manzanos back in 1940. Now over 80 years old, the gnarly bush-trained vines are thriving, and producing one of the most beloved red wines in our history. 

Graciano is a grape that’s been unlocked by modern viticulture, with a personality that combines dark, rich fruit with vivacious acidity. It’s long been used as a vital part of Rioja’s blends, but was long considered too rustic to bottle by itself. That’s until contemporary vineyard techniques succeeded in smoothing out the grape’s rough edges. 

The exceptional vineyard would be enough to make this a memorable wine, but Manzanos goes the extra mile to produce a superior expression. The tiny grapes are hand-harvested during the dead of night to preserve acidity and fresh-fruit flavor. They go into small boxes that require extra labor but deliver the bunches to the winery in pristine condition. The wine is polished over 20 months in 50% new oak.