Ramirez de la Piscina, Gran Reserva, 2016

Where Rioja is concerned, there's a lot to the name.

Gran Reserva is defined not by terroir, but by how long the wine has aged. The rules require gran reservas to have been aged at least two years in oak barrels and three in bottles before they can be released.

The Ramirez de la Piscina family of San Vicente have been farming grapes in this historic village since the 13th century.

Today, they produce small quantities of extremely classical Rioja wines from estate and long-term contracted vineyards in San Vicente and Abalos, two of the most important villages in the Sonsierra Riojana.

Despite being small, they certainly deserve the Legend Label status for everything they've done for Rioja.