The serious and austere 2019 Colección Parcelas de Mazuelo shows restraint, balance and elegance within the rusticity of the variety. It revealed some earthy notes and hints of tree bark and slightly dusty tannins. A very good Mazuelo/Cari?ena, one of the few varietal bottlings in Rioja. It has 15% alcohol and a lowish pH (3.52). 1,257 bottles were filled in July 2020.

I found a very perfumed and somewhat elegant 2017 Colección Parcelas de Mazuelo from a variety that usually behaves well in warmer vintages. It was produced with grapes from a vineyard in Alberite and from another one in Agoncillo fermented separately in small oak vats and matured in new and second use 225-liter French oak barrels for 14 months. This is polished and sleek, elegant rather than powerful, with very fine tannins and a fine thread. It's still varietal and recognizable as Mazuelo/Cari?ena, one of the few pure bottlings in Rioja. 1,140 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2019.

The 2015 Colección Parcelas de Mazuelo, one of the few Mazuelo wines produced (Mazuelo is the local synonym of Cari?ena), was sourced from two small plots, fermented in small oak vats and matured in 225-liter barriques for 14 months. It has a cool, Atlantic profile, with some herbal and black pepper notes that somehow made me think of a Cabernet Franc from the Loire, a little austere and with a strong personality. The palate is serious with fine tannins, nice balance, good freshness and medium body. This is a great expression of Mazuelo. 951 bottles were filled in May 2017.

Mazuelo (or Cari?ena) can be a very floral an elegant grape within its rusticity, as is the case with the Vivanco Parcelas 2012 Coleccion Mazuelo. It offers perfectly ripe, harmonious aromas of violets and subtle spices along with a compact, tightly-knit palate that is silky and has great acidity. This is a great Mazuelo, to drink or to keep. Really lovely. 1,516 bottles were produced.

The 2011 Coleccion Vivanco Parcelas de Mazuelo seems to have ripened properly in 2011, as it didn’t show as backward and austere as this grape can be. The wine is certainly very young and tightly wound, with the rustic notes of the variety, tree bark and blackberries. Well, it is a little austere and tight, and the texture is finely knit with plenty of ripe, round tannins, showing supple and mineral. Mazuelo/Carignan is one of those hate-it or love-it wines, so this wine won’t please everyone. Drink 2015-2021. Vivanco is a well-known name in the wine trade in Rioja, as Pedro Vivanco was in that business and he grew the family firm in the 1970s. Pedro, together with his sons, Rafael and Santiago, built an impressive new winery in Briones, Rioja Alta, and an even more impressive wine museum in 2004. Without knowing them all, I’d venture to say it’s probably the best in its class in the whole world, and has to be seen to be believed. Pedro is an avid collector of wine-related objects including art, and he had the disposable income to build a very large collection. Rafael studied oenology in France and is in charge of winemaking. Under his guidance their wines have seen steady progress. They own an impressive 400 hectares of vineyards, mostly around Briones and Haro averaging 20 years of age, but some plots are as old as 80 years or more. All four varietal wines from the top-of-the-range Coleccion are very true to their varieties and make an interesting and didactic exercise tasting them together. Imported by Opici Wines, Glen Rock, NJ; tel. (201) 689-1200