From: San Vincente de la Sonsierra, La Rioja, Spain
Varietal: Tempranillo
Tasting Notes & Critical Acclaim: This Tempranillo wine reveals complex aromas and flavors. On the nose, ripe red cherries, milk chocolate, and warm winter spices blend with vanilla, incense, pine cones, orange peel, crushed blackberries, and floral notes. The palate offers a velvety, silky smooth texture with flavors of blackberry, dried strawberries, olives, cocoa beans, and Mediterranean spices, balanced by subtle acidity and firm tannins. Oaky and earthy notes with a moderately alcoholic profile and hints of coffee, chocolate, toast, and oak enhance its complexity. The wine finishes long, inviting continued indulgence.
“The second wine in the Bordeaux sense is the 2019 Macán Clásico, a more concentrated and powerful wine cropped from a warmer and drier year that was saved by the 80 liters of rain in the first half of September. It fermented in stainless steel with 10% of their own yeasts, and the élevage was 22% in stainless steel and the rest in new and used oak barrels, mostly French but with around 5% of them American, and lasted 12 months. It has a moderate 14% alcohol, mellow acidity and good freshness and balance. 2019 was a dry and warm year when they did a soft vinification to avoid harsh tannins. The nose is ripe without excess, and the oak is neatly integrated. The palate is juicy and round, with fine tannins and a velvety texture.” –Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 93 points
“This dark violet-colored wine has aromas of cranberry, milk chocolate and rose. Milk chocolate transitions to the tastebuds and is accompanied by black cherry, blackberry, violet and orange-zest flavors. A layer of velvety tannins lingers on the tongue and gums.” –Wine Enthusiast, 95 points
Pairing: Consider pairing it with a juicy New York strip steak grilled to perfection, where the wine's dark chocolate and blackberry notes enhance the meat's savory flavors. For a rustic option, try it alongside a slow-cooked beef brisket, where the wine’s warm winter spices and subtle oakiness meld with the smoky, tender beef. Another excellent pairing is a classic American barbecue pork ribs, where the wine’s velvety texture and spice profile perfectly balance the sweet and tangy barbecue sauce. A hearty mushroom and Swiss burger can highlight the wine’s earthy undertones and firm tannins, creating a harmonious blend of flavors.
Classic Spanish pairings include Jamón Ibérico, whose rich, salty profile complements the wine's fruitiness and acidity, and a traditional lamb stew, where the wine's complex spices and velvety texture enhance the tender meat and savory broth. For seafood lovers, grilled octopus with paprika and olive oil highlights the wine’s Mediterranean spice notes, while Manchego cheese provides a delightful contrast to its chocolate and blackberry flavors.
Cheater’s Brisket
By Sam Sifton
About. Macán and Macán Clásico represent a return to authenticity, a blend of tradition and modernity in the La Rioja region. These wines are the fruit of a joint vision by two legendary names in the wine world, Rothschild and Vega Sicilia. The collaboration is a unique blend of sun, soil, water, and man. Located between the Rioja Alta and the Rioja Alavesa, Macán’s vineyards are exceptional.
Proud of their rich heritage, Macán's creators work tirelessly to achieve the highest standards, charting a distinctive course that marries quality with quantity in a manner previously unseen in La Rioja. The hallmarks of Macán are respect for nature, an appreciation for time, a passion for meticulous craftsmanship, and a relentless commitment to authenticity and excellence.
The Macán vineyards span 100 hectares of small parcels on high terraces with poor clay-limestone soil, ideal for cultivating the Tempranillo grape. The Sierra De Cantabria forms a natural border between Álava, La Rioja, and Navarra, with a diverse landscape of vineyards and forests.
More on this wine. These are parcels of limestone soil with sandy clay. This Tempranillo wine undergoes vinification in stainless steel tanks. It is aged 12 to 14 months in a combination of new and second-year French extra fine grain oak barrels and single-use American oak barrels from Vega Sicilia. After aging in barrels, it is bottled and aged for more than 18 months before release. With an aging potential of 10 to 15 years, Macán Clásico embodies its terroir's freshness, fruitiness, and complexity.
The vineyard (across San Vincente de la Sonsierra, Labastida, Àbalos, Navaridas and Elvillar), averaging 30-40 years in age, spans 100 hectares at an altitude of 500 meters, yielding 3,000-3,500 kg/ha, and is harvested by hand in 12-kg boxes, reflecting the tradition and precision that define Macán Clásico.
