2001 Bodegas Manzanos Voché Vino de Autor
2001 is one of the great Rioja vintages of recent decades. Happily, it doesn't reside entirely in the nostalgic glow of vintage charts. After tasting, we have seized upon an attractively priced parcel of 2001 Bodegas Manzanos Voché. Provenance is impeccable. The wine lies in the bodega cellars, from where it has not moved since bottling. Did they just forget to sell it? We will ship to the UK in early autumn, when the weather is cooler.
The Voché was made from old bush vine Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano in Rioja del Reyno (the part of Rioja that has a toehold in the province of Navarra). Made in a restrained and elegant style (not defined by lashings of American oak), it is on the threshold of its peak drinking window. Cherry and raspberry notes define a mellowing core of fruit, and its three years in old French and American barrels have brought an attractive note of grilled hazelnut to the finish.
The wine is subtitled 'Vino de Autor', which is a Spanish way of saying it is the product of one individual's creative project. The individual in question was Víctor Fernández de Manzanos, the fourth winemaking generation of the Manzanos family. He was aiming for a style of Rioja a little bit more about fruit, a little bit less about oak. Víctor died suddenly in 2010, and his son (also Víctor) had to step up to run the business at the age of just 20. It was a difficult time, with crippling bills for a state-of-the-art new winery just landing. Víctor Jr. managed to turn everything around, and Bodegas Manzanos is now more successful than ever; but that's probably a story for a different email. /NT
