Tasting Notes…
The Fos winery is situated in Finca Vialba, Elciego in Rioja Alavesa. Nestled in between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Ebro River which gives this area a unique microclimate ideal for producing top quality Tempranillo. It benefits from a cooling effect from the Atlantic around 50 miles away. Vines are planted in a 20 hectare Vineyard surrounding the winery. All vines are 25 to 70 years old. Baranda uses Grapes from 60 year old Gobelet pruned vines which are hand harvested, sorted and destemmed and stored at 5 degrees for 12 hours before maceration. Baranda is Fos’ Signature wine. Don’t be fooled by the generico green label. Like many several up-coming wineries, Fos have rejected the DOC’s rules as they feel they are holding them back from producing wines of high quality and exploiting some of the new classifications such as single vineyard Tempranillo. Also Experimenting with Amphorae and Oak casks of 500L rather than the limiting 225 Litre size. After a cold maceration, it is fermented with indiginous yeasts before a secondary malolactic fermentation with batonage. This wine was aged for 14 months in French oak. On the palate, it is extremely well balanced with hints of liquorice, balsamic and cocoa. Broad and with a depth of pleasure. The Penin Guide gave this wine 94 points.
