From Bodegas Montecillo, the historic Rioja house, comes one of their most treasured releases: 22 Barricas. It’s not every year this bottling comes out—the team waits for the best weather, the best quality of grapes. They only source from their top plots, the ones with historic, aged vines. When they do produce, production is limited and focused—only 6,000 bottles exist, and each one is aged for a minimum of five years in bottle.
The 2017, the most recent release, is made with a blend of Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha, and Mazuelo. It’s fresh, restrained, and earthy, layered with elegant plum and silky-but-structured tannins. I recently had the privilege of going deeper into the Bodegas Montecillo archive to see how these wines fair over time. Even the 2007 vintage—almost twenty years at this point—is vivid in color and full of pleasant, fresh fruit. If you can find it, look for vintages like the 2010, where that vibrant fruit and tannins meld together for a wonderful depth of flavor. $165
Kate Dingwall is a sommelier and wine writer. Her work frequently appears in Wine Enthusiast, Decanter, Eater, Forbes.com, Vogue, and Food & Wine, and she pours wine at one of Canada’s top restaurants.
