Some wineries gravitate around a certain wine since their foundation, a wine that becomes the paradigm of the winery’s style and winemaking philosophy. This is the case with Bodegas LAN and Viña Lanciano: it was the first wine ever launched by our bodega.
Made exclusively with grapes grown in our winery’s source of pride, the Viña Lanciano vineyard; a lush bend of the Ebro encircled by the river’s flow, which has a tempering effect on its microclimate and defines its character. This meander in the foothills of the Sierra de Cantabria, heart of the Rioja Alta subzone, is composed of frank-clay soil and alluvial rock, exceptional land for quality focused sustainable viticulture.
The 2010 winter was cold and rainy in the Viña Lanciano estate. A drizzly spring with low temperatures gave way to a very warm and dry summer, with low nocturnal temperatures that helped our vineyard achieve its optimal vegetative and sanitary state. During harvest, the fruit showed great tannin and aromatic intensity, perfect fruit conditions to make extraordinary wines.
The grapes were selected from hand-harvested vines that were planted over 30 years ago in our estate, then manually allocated in two selection tables so that only those grains in perfect sanitary and ripeness conditions were allowed to go on to the fermentation phase. Lightly crushed, the resulting must was fermented in small, temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, where long macerations and the daily over-pumping of the must ensure perfect aromatic and color extraction.
The wine then underwent malolactic fermentation in new French oak barrels and aged for a total of 3 years; 18 months in oak barrels (12 months in French oak from the Tronçaise forests and 6 months in Russian oak from the Caucasus) and 18 months of rounding in the bottle prior to release.
Bright crimson with purple hues. Elegant aromas of ripe red and black fruits, liquorice, sweet spice and pastries combined with the minerality characteristic of all the wines from the Viña Lanciano estate. The bouquet is girdled with hints of forest shrub (rockrose) and other balsamic aromas (mint, fennel…). Its attack is silky and elegant, showcasing fruit again on the palate as well as sweet and finely integrated tannins. Very persistent, its finish is pleasant and savory.