1964 Faustino Rioja Gran Reserva I

1964 Faustino Rioja Gran Reserva I

1964 Faustino Rioja Gran Reserva I

Intense, bright cherry red. Aromatic and complex, with notes of tobacco, cedar and leather against a background of ripe fruit, jam and spices. Powerful yet velvety, with flavors of rich red fruit, licorice and minerals and smooth, ripe tannins.

Wine Enthusiast (94/100)
With its dried-cherry and rose-petal aromas and flavors, this beautiful, mature red is every bit the equivalent of a fine, older Bordeaux or Burgundy. Cumin and cinnamon show on the palate and the refined finish is lovely, with anise and white pepper accents.

In the mid 1800s, Eleuterio Martinez Arzok took his first steps toward establishing himself as a producer and merchant of wines from the Rioja region of Spain. He started out by selling his wines in the Rioja and Basque regions, direct from the barrel. Much has changed since then and the winery he founded has since become known as one of the premier fine wine producers of the Rioja region.

In the late 1950s, his similarly adventurous descendant, Julio Faustino Martinez, launched the family-owned label in both national and international markets. Today, Bodegas Faustino is Rioja’s largest exporter of Gran Reserva wines. The winner of numerous awards and gold medals in international competitions and tastings, Bodegas Faustino is a proud custodian of the Rioja region’s growing international reputation as a source of truly world-class fine wines.

With 1600 acres of its own vineyards, Faustino is self-sufficient in producing its Reserva and Gran Reserva wines. The vineyards are located in the upper part of Rioja Alavesa at an altitude of between 1500 and 1800 feet. The climate is cool, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, and the vines thrive in the chalky soil. The state-of-the-art Faustino winery has a stock of 45,000 barriques, 80% of which are American oak. The winery maintains a permanent stock of 9 million bottles of Reserva and Gran Reserva wines.

Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.