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With the XR Rioja Reserva 2015, the traditional Spanish winery Marques de Riscal (Rioja) has presented a red wine that is to establish a new wine category. "XR" stands for "Extra Reserva". The wine, which the company calls "winemakers wine", is made from Tempranillo (91 per cent) and Graciano (9 per cent) and is matured for four years, 26 months of which in US barriques. Ten to 15 percent were stored in new barrels. The maturation period defined in Rioja for Gran Reserva is only three years. According to the winery, the organically grown grapes come from selected plots in the village of Elciego in Rioja Alavesa.
The abbreviation "XR" comes from the Rioja tradition of marking the barrels with chalk and the two letters whose wines show a special character that other barrels of the vintage do not offer. For Marques de Riscal, the XR opens up the question of whether one should not leave the defined Reserva quality level of the growing region. In the coming vintage, the wine will possibly bear the place name Elciego on the label and be defined as a "local wine".
(uka / Photo: Roderich Kahn - Wikipedia)