The 2016 Norte is named after the orientation of the plot of its Tempranillo grapes grow. I visited the vineyard, one of the higher-altitude vineyards in Rioja Alavesa, at around 720 meters above sea level, right next to the mountain. It's a wild and windy place where they suffer the attacks of wild boars and deer, a place where the vines are healthy and the grapes ripen quite a lot but keep very good acidity. It's a powerful wine, as this vintage saw perhaps some 30% new barrels for the élevage that lasted 14 months. It's a ripe and powerful, still marked by the oak, but the palate is not hard; the tannins are quite polished, and there's refreshing acidity that keeps it very balanced. This is a modern red Rioja with stuffing and balance to develop nicely in bottle. It opened up in the glass, developing some floral aromas and further complexity, showing more integrated. This was first bottled in 1999, the second vintage of the winery. 11,500 bottles were filled in September 2018.
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