This rich red shows a savory character, featuring plum and currant flavors mingling with espresso, mineral and loamy earth notes. Dense, with firm tannins and balsamic acidity. Drink now through 2024. 4,000 cases made, 250 cases imported.??–TM??Region: Spain / Rioja Select to Add

The 2011 Club Lealtanza Reserva combines ripe fruit with heavy oak plus an animal twist. 48,000 bottles produced.

The 2009 Club Lealtanza Reserva is a more serious effort, obviously oaked but with good supporting fruit underneath, with the complexity and depth of old vines, wood and fruit in the process of being integrated, but with the stuffing to do so and come into balance in a beautiful wine with more freshness and greater length. Drink 2015-2020. Lealtanza was created in 1998 and the first wines reached the market in 2002. These are modern wines produced with very ripe fruit. Imported by The Artisan Collection - Quality Wines From Spain, Brooklyn, NY; tel. (718) 596-0722; www.theartisancollection.us

The 2008 Club Lealtanza Reserva is a limited edition of 48,312 bottles, aged in French oak casks for 18 months. It has an opulent bouquet of kirsch, strawberry and orange zest that gives way to attractive mineral notes underneath. The palate has an effervescent opening with vivacious dark cherries and cassis notes. The tannins are fine and focused with a very elegant, polished finish that has a citric edge. This is a lively, quite precocious Reserva. Drink now-2018. Bodegas Altanza is a relatively recent addition to the Rioja landscape, having been established in 1998. They own around 200 hectares of vine, plus another 50 hectares under contracted vineyards. With respect to their red varieties, they are all 100% Tempranillo. The winery is located just outside the town of Fuenmayor in Rioja Alta, and from the very beginning they have raised their wines through French rather than American oak (which accounts for around 10% of aging vessels). Apart from their top blends, their range utilizes a prudent 15% new oak, i.e. a six-year cycle of barrel usage. You could describe the style of their wines as modern, but with restraint. I will begin with their "Edulis" range, which is sourced from the bodega's own vines and runs parallel to the Lealtanza wines. Edulis is aimed towards a younger generation of wine drinkers and to the off-trade, wines that are easily understandable. Altanza produces two wines aimed at the U.S. market (although they are now also available in Europe). I tasted two wines from the premium "Spanish Artists Collection," which is available in three-packs, each adorned with a different picture of the chosen artist. Importer: F.L. Navarro, The Artisan Collection, Brooklyn, NY; tel. (718) 596-0722

The 2005 Lealtanza Club Reserva was sourced from vines over 75 years of age and aged for 18 months in French oak. Deep purple in color, it sports an already complex nose of cinnamon, clove, incense, lavender, black cherry, and blackberry. More concentrated than the 2004 Reserva Especial, it has enough structure to evolve for another 6-8 years and should see its 25th birthday in fine form. As usual, the latest releases from Bodegas Altanza are first class. Importer: F.L. Navarro, The Artisan Collection, Brooklyn, NY; Tel. (718) 596-0722