Bodega El Coto is relatively new, having only been founded in 1970. But in short order, they’ve become one of the most important addresses in Rioja. They now farm hundreds of hectares across all three subzones and have led a mini-renaissance for white wine in the region. The scale of the place is frankly unbelievable, with individual cellars designated for the production of specific cuvées, two cellars for barrel aging, and two for bottle aging.

With El Coto’s size comes the ability to really drill down into the nuances of Rioja, and to take chances other wineries cannot. It takes a lot of tasting experience to know when a young wine should be laid down for three decades. And despite sizable annual production, El Coto is resolutely committed to the old way of doing things. They focus exclusively on indigenous varieties and, in the old manner, use a mixture of French and American oak in their long elevage regimen.

Why You’ll Love it

• This is Rioja unadorned – 100% Tempranillo, aged in old French and American oak for 18 months. After bottling, a select parcel of the wine was stashed away to be released only when it was at its absolute prime.

• 1995 is a legendary vintage in Rioja, a year in which vines recovered from years of drought by producing beautifully ripe yet fresh fruit.

• Little compares with the aromas of impeccably aged Rioja like this, with its mixture of dried red fruits, rose petals, saddle leather, dried herbs, dusty hot rocks, plum skin, and mushroom stock. 

• The palate is unbelievably graceful, any rough edges that may have ever existed have been rounded out by thirty years of aging. It’s medium-bodied and silken, soft and inviting with enough freshness to hold its own with heartier fare. 

• And it still has a few years to go! Grab enough to open over the next three to five years.

How To Serve It

• It’s still under its original cork, which can be quite delicate at this age, so we strongly recommend using an “ah-so” cork puller.

• A decant is also in order, if only to get the wine off the sediment from decades of aging. But some time to breathe will also allow it to fully spread its aromatic wings!

• Drink just above cellar temp in Bordeaux stems, alongside something classically Rioja, like potatoes fried and simmered alongside chorizo and paprika.