The 2010 vintage was the fourth excellent one of the 21st century for the Control Board of the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin (previously 2001, 2004 and 2005). The Rioja rating system, with the analysis of more than 4,000 samples of the 285 million liters produced, is the most rigorous in the country, although the breadth and diversity of the wine-growing region makes it possible to find, in all vintages, excellent wines with others that are not so excellent.
On this occasion, the 2010 vintage for Finca Valpiedra is one of the best, if not the best, that our technical team has vinified. The meteorological year was marked by the summer drought, which made it possible to obtain concentrated wines with excellent health.
The rains made their appearance during the Pilar bridge, late in October, but by then at Finca Valpiedra we already had all the grapes in the winery. In fact, we finished harvesting by the third week of September,with a full ripening of the grapes and with a not excessive alcohol content (13.5% vol in the wine), as we like in Familia Martínez Bujanda.
“Balanced” is how our technical director, Lauren Rosillo, describes the 2010 vintage for Finca Valpiedra, a wine that combines the structure and concentration of perfectly ripened grapes with the elegance of the great Rioja vintages.
2010 marked a turning point in Rioja after the collapse of grape prices in 2009. In an attempt to revalue prices at origin, the Control Board only covered 90% of the production in the field, which means a yield of 5,850 kilos per hectare for red grapes, although in the case of red grapes the yield was Finca Valpiedra we work every year well below: on this occasion our average yield was 4,500 kilos per hectare.
The 2010 vintage of Finca Valpiedra is already on the market and, for the moment, it could not have had a better reception. The British prescriptor Tim Atkin has received it with 95 points and with the following description: “Tempranillo with 8% mazuelo and graciano grapes, fresh, perfumed and elegant with a deep freshness reminiscent of cabernet franc, tannins and a long, fine finish”. Elegant and complete, in the words of our technical team.
