Campo Viejo 1970 Gran Reserva

Wine: Campo Viejo 1970 Gran Reserva

Winery: Bodegas Campo Viejo (Logroño, La Rioja)
Appellation / Region: D.O.Ca. Rioja
Varietals: 80% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano
ABV: [Not specified]
Winemaking

Grape selection from various plots across Rioja Alta. The wine spent 18 months in old oak vats for fermentation and stabilization before racking. It was aged for 36 months: 12 months in French oak and the remainder in seasoned 225-liter American oak barrels. It underwent two manual rackings (trasiegas) per year. Bottled in the spring of 1976. A minimum of 36 months of bottle aging was completed in the winery’s cellars prior to release.

 

Tasting Notes (10/05/2013)
 

Appearance: Bright, clear ruby with medium-low depth (capa); luminous with amber and copper highlights. It features a broad, tawny (tile-red) rim with little distinction from the meniscus.

Nose: Direct and recognizable—quintessential Campo Viejo—differing very little, if at all, from the Reserva of the same vintage. It embodies an immense classicism, featuring notes of cigar humidors, English tobacco, sweet spices, and red fruit (sloe, sour cherries) alongside citrus hints, orange zest, and barnyard. It gains power steadily as it opens, revealing aromas of leaf litter, humus, withered flowers, fine leather goods, walnut bark, and a high-intensity spicy background. A textbook, traditional Rioja: complex and rich in detail.

 

Palate: Full-bodied and well-settled (grueso y reposado). Balanced, elegant, and round, with caressing, mature tannins and a surprising acidity. Savory and concentrated, it delivers spicy and peppery notes, bitter cocoa, and raisins. Exceptionally persistent on the palate, leaving a candied sensation on the finish (retronasal). These Campo Viejo bottlings remain a benchmark for well-crafted Rioja. This wine will hold for many years in the bottle. Excellent.

 

Personal Score: 92
Tasting Group Score: 91

Tasting Notes (February 20th, 2013):
 

Appearance: Bright, clean ruby with medium-low depth (capa); showing orange highlights and a tawny (tile-red) rim.

 

Nose: Clean and soft on the nose, showcasing classic aging aromas: vanilla, animalistic hints, birch, and fine leather goods (marroquinería), with a creamy background that gains power as the wine breathes. It continues to evolve, gradually revealing notes of shaded forest floor (monte umbrío), black truffle, leaf litter, and a long array of spices. No notable differences were observed compared to the Campo Viejo 1970 Reserva.

 

Palate: Full-bodied and significantly marked by its oak aging. There are creamy notes of vanilla and white spices, underpinned by the signature acidity that distinguished the house’s wines. Savory, round, and full on the palate. It appears younger than most wines from other wineries of the same vintage. Very good!

 

Personal Score: 92
Tasting Group Score: 92