Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/314991
{ SOMMjournal.com } 85 { cellar view } 1964 Faustino Gran Reserva (SRP $300) 80% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 10% Mazuelo. This wine was a revelation to us. Brickish color; great aromatics; deep lush and fresh with depth, balance; notes of leather, tar, licorice, minerals and juicy acidity; beef and iron ore; complex and long. Bob: "Longer than expected; lively acid." 96 points aging potential: at least five more years 1970 Faustino Gran Reserva ($180) 75% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 15% Mazuelo. Rich, brickish color; classic mature nose with earth, mushroom and leather; smooth and robust with dense flavors of spice, earth, red cherry, strawberry; dried fruit. 93 aging potential: five to ten years 1982 Faustino Gran Reserva ($150) 85% Tempranillo, 15% Graciano. Deep ruby color; juicy and bright, racy, fresh and intense; red cur- rant, earth, forest floor, licorice, purple flowers, spice; a superb food wine. Illya: "Beautiful and still vibrant." 99 aging potential: 20 years or more 1986 Faustino Gran Reserva ($100) 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo. Deep garnet color; edgy, juicy, tannic and bright with licorice and classic Rioja style; chewy tannins; notes of earth and sour cherry. Jonathan: "Cinnamon, mushroom and a touch of herbs." 92 aging potential: five to ten years. 1987 Faustino Gran Reserva ($100) 85% Tempranillo, 13% Graciano, 3% Mazuelo. Rich ruby color; juicy and ripe with sweet cassis with bright, persistent acidity; lovely herbs, spice and complex flavors; long, lovely and very long. Jonathan: "Fruit takes a back seat." 94 aging potential: five years. 1990 Faustino Gran Reserva ($100) 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo. Deep, dark ruby; vibrant, rich and powerful with black cherry, plum and oak; licorice, truffle and great structure. Jonathan: "I am a flower." 91 aging potential: five to ten years 1991 Faustino Gran Reserva ($88) 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo Dark ruby; mature and lush with sweet boysenberry and mocha; intense and lacking precision; earthy, fleshy, unfiltered. Bob: "Huge red cherry and licorice but showing some signs of age and slight oxidation." 89 aging potential: maybe five years 2001 Faustino Gran Reserva ($35) 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo Deep ruby color; mushroom and rich, ripe and intense with plum, black cherry and spice, tobacco, leather. Illya: "Great acidity, crushed flowers, super long finish." 98 aging potential: 20 years or more "Longer than expected." The panel was stunned by the longevity of the Faustino Gran Reserva. Ageworthy Rioja In each issue of SOMM JOURNAL I will select an important wine to be studied in depth. These will be wines that many restaurants are likely to have in their cellars. The purpose of this exer- cise is to provide a perspective on the wine's ageability and to assess the current status of older vintages. Since the late 1950s, Bodegas Faustino Martínez has set the standard in Rioja. The Faustino Gran Reserva is a benchmark wine that ages gracefully and for a very long time. We assembled an expert panel to look at key vin- tages of this important wine going back 50 years, all of which are—miraculously—still available to the trade through Palm Bay International. The panel consisted of Jonathan Cristaldi and myself from THE TASTING PANEL maga- zine; Bob Silverstein, restaurateur and consul- tant; Shannon Windham, Regional Manager, Genesis Division, Southern California for Palm Bay International, the importer of the wine; and Illya Haase, Spanish wine specialist from K&L Wine Merchants in Hollywood, CA Our panel for the Bodegas Faustino tasting (left to right): Illya Haase, K&L Wine Merchants, Hollywood, CA; restaurateur and wine consulstant Bob Silverstein; Anthony Dias Blue, Editor in Chief, The SOMM Journal; Shannon Windham, Regional Manager, Genesis Division, Southern California for Palm Bay International; and Jonathan Cristaldi, Deputy Editor, The SOMM Journal. A FAUSTINO VERTICAL PROVES THAT THESE GREAT TEMPRANILLO-DRIVEN WINES CAN LAST FOR DECADES by Anthony Dias Blue Somm Journal June/July.indd 85 5/9/14 12:11 PM