Marques de Tomares, Rioja Gran Reserva, 2016

Gran Reserva is Rioja's highest tier — extended aging in oak and bottle, wines released only in exceptional vintages, designed to show what this grape and this soil can do given real time. Marqués de Tomares has been making wine in this tradition since the founding family arrived in the late 1800s, selling exclusively through private channels until they finally opened up to retailers. The founding family's descendants still farm vines their grandfather planted over a century ago. A 2016 Gran Reserva is arriving at its first real drinking window: the oak has integrated, the fruit has deepened, and the savory complexity that defines great aged Rioja has begun to bloom. Drink over the next 15 years.