Benjamin de Rothschild and Vega Sicilia Macan Rioja 2019

From the winery

"Macán is a modern and very personal interpretation of the finest and most expressive wines in DOCa Rioja. It is a commitment to refinement, elegance, complexity and power. It is the flagship brand of Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia, the joint initiative launched in 2004 by Tempos Vega Sicilia and Compagnie Vinicole Edmond de Rothschild.

2009 was the first vintage to be released. Expertise, dedication, patience and a desire to improve have all contributed to the development of a project that today boasts 100 hectares of top quality vineyards and state-of-the-art winemaking facilities that combine technology, tradition and innovation.

Macán is made exclusively from Tempranillo grapes. The fruit comes from a painstaking selection of old plots on elevated terraces and poor, gravelly, clay-limestone soils.

The grapes were rustic when we tasted them in September 2019, but the 80 litres of rain helped to polish this texture. We had to be very careful to avoid overripe grapes and to find the right al dente moment to harvest the fruit. It was a vintage of very gentle, almost infusion-like fermentations, avoiding excessive extraction of the press wines and polishing them before the blending stage. In an attempt to tame the wine, we also reduced the use of barrels in favour of foudres."