Urbina Reserva Especial Rioja 2006, Bodegas Urbina

Urbina Reserva Especial Rioja 2006 is part of Urbina’s blue label range of wines, signifying that it comes from the estate’s older vines. The red label wines, like the Urbina Crianza, are from younger vines. It showcases the traditional winemaking style of Bodegas Urbina. All Urbina Riojas are available to buy in the UK at Fareham Wine Cellar.

Bodegas Urbina History

The origins of Bodegas Urbina can be traced back to 1870  when Salvador Urbina first began producing wines using the Urbina name. In 1975 the family decided to bottle and age all of the wine made themselves, rather than selling grapes to other wine producers, and the single estate Urbina Rioja wines were created. Today the winery remains family-owned and is run by the fourth generation, Angel, Pedro and Santiago. The Bodega is well-known for ageing their wines for a lot longer than other Rioja producers before releasing them to the market. These wines are a must-try for fans of mature wines – there is no substitute for time!

Where is Bodegas Urbina?

The winery is located in the village of Cuzcurrita de Rio Tiron on the north-western boundary of DOC Rioja. The estate comprises 75 hectares of vineyards at two main vineyard sites. The first site is near the winery at Cuzcurrita de Rio Turon, an area well-known for producing Riojas capable of ageing for many years ideal for Gran Reservas. The other vineyards are located at Uruñuela, in the heart of the Rioja DOC, which consistently produces wines of great quality and body. The vineyards are planted with 65 hectares of Tempranillo and the remaining 10 hectares are planted with Graciano, Mazuelo and Viura.

Bodegas Urbina produces 300,000 bottles of red Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva. These classic, elegant and stylish red Rioja wines have more recently been joined by a white Crianza, a white Reserva and a new sparkling wine called Valle del Angel Vintage Sparkling which is made from old vine Viura using the ‘Traditional Method’ (Champenoise).

Single Estate Rioja Wines

As single-estate wines, all of the wines are made from grapes sourced from estate vineyards. The vineyards are cultivated using traditional methods: harvesting is done by hand and there is little, or no, use of weed killers and pesticides. Additionally, any fertilisers used are organic. Only indigenous yeasts are used in the wine-making process which, combined with the terroir, gives Urbina wines their unique personality. Most recently, there has been a large investment in modern winery equipment, stainless steel fermentation tanks and bottling plant.

Urbina Reserva Especial Vinification

Urbina Reserva Especial 2006 is 100% Tempranillo. After harvest the wine is fermented at 28°C and macerated for 28 days in stainless steel tanks. After maceration, the wine is aged for 24 months in American oak casks (12 months in new oak and 6 months in 7 year old oak) followed by then a minimum of 24 months in the bottle before release.