Limpid ruby-red. Oak-spiced cherry, black raspberry, candied rose, spicecake and coconut aromas show very good definition and pick up tobacco and licorice notes as the wine opens up. Smooth and appealingly sweet, offering sappy cherry cola, fruitcake, coconut and floral pastille flavors complemented by an earthy undertone. Shows very good energy and floral lift on a long, smoky finish framed by velvety, well-knit tannins.

Finally, there was the 2014 Viña Arana Rioja Gran Reserva, which comprises 94% Tempranillo from Las Cuevas, El Palo and Las Monjas and 6% Graciano from Montecillo. This was aged in American oak for three years and bottled in June 2018. Exhibiting just a modicum of browning on the rim, it offers crushed strawberry, field mushroom, clove and singed leather on the nose, hints of vine tomato and balsamic following with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, lithe tannins that lend this Gran Reserva its smooth veneer. Moderate in depth, it is classic in style and no bodybuilder. It remains rather understated toward the finish, offering soy-infused red fruit, sour cherries, orange peel, porcini and dried herbs. My parsimonious score reflects the fact that I found the balsamic trait to be accentuated and a little too pronounced with aeration.

The aim with the 2014 Viña Arana Gran Reserva is to find a new Gran Reserva style that combines freshness and joy with intensity, sophistication and aging potential through a blend of Tempranillo with 6% Graciano that matured in American oak barrels for three years with rackings every six months. 2014 was a weaker year in the region, and the wine shows it and feels less vivacious than the 2015 Viña Alberdi. It has medium ripeness and abundant spicy and smoky notes and a medium-bodied palate with a soft texture that points at a wine for shorter-term consumption than the rest of the portfolio or other vintages from this cuvée. 80,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2018.