This is surely the golden age of Rioja. The availability of top tier wines that are already aged and ready to impress is rivaled only by Bordeaux (and that Bordelaise-Rioja connection goes back 150 years), but the value proposition in Rioja is truly unparalleled. A few days ago we offered a soaring powerhouse in the modern fashion, today we have a doggedly old-school Gran Reserva from a traditional favorite: Hermanos Peciña. Sourced from some of Rioja’s best terroir in the limestone laden hills that slope down from the Sierra Cantabria mountains to the village of San Vincente, this Gran Reserva spent a whopping 48 months in classic, old American oak barrels, and an additional four to five years in bottle before it was released. At a decade of age it is now entering its prime drinking window, and it will remain there for many years. All that pedigree, all that aging, all that history and the price is still under $50?!? That’s the magic of Rioja.

Their wines may feel timeless, but Hermanos de 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 wine making 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 a Gran Reserva when the vintage is up to the task, 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 process of wine making and cellar aging in Rioja can seem to obscure the subtleties of terroir and vintage, but in truth the best wines and producers use the traditional methods to highlight, not mask, their terroir. Pedro and his team are clearly among the best, which is why you can feel the transparency of the classically built, and classically excellent, 2014 vintage in today’s Gran Reserva. Serve it at a cellar temperature, and pour into large Bordeaux stems after a good decant so you can revel in the full spectrum of aromas and flavors. 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!