Hermanos Peciña’s 2015 Rioja Gran Reserva "Finca Iscorta de Peciña" is that rarest of creatures: a true value in the world of truly elite fine wine. We offer oodles of classically styled Rioja here at SommSelect, often emphasizing that even entry-level examples perform far above their price tag. “Finca Iscorta” proves that the best producers can pull off the same trick at the topmost echelons too. Sourced from a single vineyard of half-century old bush vines and crafted with the most rigorously traditional Riojana methods, this is more than just a slam dunk value. It’s a bottle to build a cellar around. Already a show stoppingly luscious and silken centerpiece, like the best Rioja, it’ll prove nearly immortal if you can prove patient enough. If you’re looking for a wine to lay away not for years but for decades, “Finca Iscorta” is a prime candidate. How often can you say that about a bottle that’s less than $60? Only when we’re talking Rioja!

Their wines may feel timeless, but Señorio de P. Peciña is actually a relatively new project, having only been created in 1992. By that point, founder Pedro Peciña was already a local legend though. For years, he’d been the chief vineyard manager at the historic La Rioja Alta winery. Working for such a large estate – over 300 hectares – he gained encyclopedic knowledge about the region’s microclimates and subzones. During those eighteen years covering every corner of such a diverse region, Pedro developed a little checklist of his ideal vineyard qualities. High elevations were key, as were chalky soils and north-facing slopes on the left bank of the Ebro river. Luckily, his family just happened to own 20ha that ticked every box on his list. Their old vineyards sit at the foot of the Sierra Cantabria Mountains. While bigger producers prize sites that produce generous, fruit-driven wines, the factors Pedro insisted on all contribute to more savory and structured wines. That’s all the better for the long aging and traditional handling Pedro insists on.

Pedro carries the torch for a style of old-school Rioja winemaking maintained by only a handful of producers these days. He only employs American oak, almost all of it old and well-used.  Fermentations begin spontaneously and wines are only ever moved by gravity. Perhaps most important to Pedro’s winemaking protocol is the traditional racking techniques he employs. Red wines get racked twice a year, moved from barrel to barrel without the agitation of pumps, the wines’ clarity inspected by candlelight. Throughout the process, oxygen is slowly introduced into the wine, producing a softer, more elegant structure, and contributing to a very slow aging curve. And like the other top winemakers in Rioja, Pedro goes far beyond the aging protocol that the DOCa demands. He only makes “Finca Iscorta” in the best years, and chooses to age it for no less than four years versus the required two. He further pushes the bottle aging, which legally has to be three years, to whatever he feels is required. Hence, a wine ready to go the distance in your cellar, yet already a perfectly-aged masterpiece.

The 2015 “Finca Iscorta de Peciña” is sourced from a single plot of vines that are 95% Tempranillo, 3% Garnacha, 2% Graciano, and all over 50 years old. It was fermented in stainless steel then moved to well-used American oak where it underwent Pedro’s meticulous aging regime. Since it’s been aging in the bottle for almost five years, give it a quick decant or open it a half-hour ahead of time to really let the aromatics blossom. The nose leads with intense dark berry fruit – crushed blackberries, dried raspberry, cherry pit – commingled with an incredible array of earthy tertiary notes like baking spice, dried tobacco, fallen leaves, and saddle leather. On the palate it’s silken and harmonious, the tannins present but only a fine coating, the deep and powerful richness of the vintage buttressed by tensile acid. An amazing synthesis of ripe, evolving fruit and Rioja’s telltale savor, it’s just about perfect right now. But there’s absolutely no rush to drink it. In fact, grab a six-pack and watch it evolve for as many years as you can wait!