Get to know: Luis Canas, Rioja Reserva

Tasting Note

A superb Reserva Rioja, with a great concentration of fruit. Full of sweet ripe, strawberries and red cherries with hints of liquorice, sweet spices and vanilla from 18 months spent in oak American and French oak barrels. It has a luxurious mellow character on the palate leading to a silky smooth, long lasting finish.

This is a great wine to try with tapas dishes and semi-cured cheese.

Kate Says

“A modern style of Rioja from a progressive winery. It’s really up front with its delicious concentrated red cherry fruit, mingling with vanilla. It’s a pretty meaty red and I’d have this with a plate of cheese and charcuterie.”

Producer Info

In 1970 Luis Caas changed two hundred years of tradition and became the first winemaker in Rioja Alavesa to bottle his young wine rather than sell it as bulk.

This bold move, and his continued pioneering spirit, has cemented the winery’s enviable reputation as one of the most progressive in the region. Sheltered below the watchful Sierra Cantabria, the vineyards are all old, small plots on chalky-clay soils with a dedicated team of vineyard workers carrying out organic practices and a purpose built, fully equipped accommodation block was built for the entire vineyard team in 2006.

The vines Luis Caas use for their Reserva wines average around 40 years old from some of the best vineyard sites in Rioja Alavesa, aged for 18 months in second fill American and French oak before a further period of bottle ageing prior to release.