Lanzaga Tabuerniga 2016

Founded in 1998, Bodega Lanzaga is the Rioja-based project of acclaimed winemaker, Telmo Rodriguez, focussing on highly expressive wines from the villages of Labastida and Lanciego. Tabuerniga is an old terraced vineyard sitting at around 600m elevation and is planted to traditional bush vines of mostly Tempranillo with some Graciano and Mazuelo. The 2016 is an extraordinarily complex wine of utterly seamless balance and elegance. On the nose it is redolent of crushed blue and black berries, dried flowers, liquorice and tar. The palate is full-bodied and dense yet radiant and full of levity. An imposing tannic structure will require several years of bottle age to soften, but buyer’s patience will almost certainly be rewarded.