Excelso 1959 Gran Reserva

Wine: Excelso 1959 Gran Reserva

Winery: Bodegas Franco-Españolas (Logroño, La Rioja)
Appellation / Region: D.O.Ca. Rioja
Varietals: 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 10% Mazuelo
ABV: [Not specified]
Winemaking

The wine spent 18 to 24 months in large oak vats to complete malolactic fermentation and stabilize before racking. It was aged for 72 to 84 months (depending on the vintage) in 225-liter American oak barrels. Fined with fresh egg whites. Aged for a minimum of 10 years in the bottle before release. This edition featured a special wax seal to ensure longevity and cork hygiene. Marketed in the early 1980s.

 

Tasting Notes
 

Appearance: Very pale, translucent brownish-ruby with medium-low depth (capa). It shows a very fine, suspended sediment that remains despite the bottle being upright for days. Luminous with orange and amber highlights. The rim is broad and fully tawny (tile-red), merging seamlessly with the meniscus.

 

Nose: Plenitud in a glass; a spherical compendium and the quintessence of all Franco-Españolas' virtues. It oozes authenticity, harmony, and roundness. Elegant, refined, and deeply emotional. It reveals notes of violet candy (caramelo de lilas), smoke, and creamy toasted nuances, alongside withered flowers, Mediterranean scrubland herbs, and graphite. It possesses a mineral and earthy core that is hard to believe. As it breathes, the fruit emerges victorious—mature, luscious, and as pure as the day it was bottled.

 

Palate: Impossible to stop drinking. Fresh, spicy, and light, yet endowed with great concentration and intense acidity. It is currently at its absolute peak—vibrant, spirited (nervioso), and full of life. It sparkles while maintaining a very serious and recognizable character: vanilla-scented, spicy, and only subtly reduced by its years in the bottle. It is difficult to conceive that such wines were crafted over 50 years ago. The extreme elegance of this wine transports us to the winery's golden age, when Franco-Españolas reigned in Rioja with wines of pure emotion—classic, eternal, and as traditional as they are missed. Few wines live up to their name as these old "Excelso" bottlings do. It is a joke—and a distasteful one—that they continue to produce this label today as if there were a connection between past and present, tarnishing such a sacrosanct name. We are not fooled. A bit of integrity is overdue; enough of living off the legacy of the past.

 

Personal Score: 96
Tasting Group Score: 96