On the nose some wizened fruit, toffee and a light mocha character. In the mouth balanced, but only moderately structured, with a finish and aftertaste dominated by dark chocolate. The oak is not as overpowering as in other Gran Reserva. Overall, the wine is not very sophisticated, but drinks nicely.
Campo Vijeo belongs to the French group Pernot Ricard, which in his wine portfolio also enumerates the Australian Jacob’s Creek, the American Kenwood and the French Champagne Mumm and Perrier-Jouët brands. Definitely more an industry than a winery according to romantic tales.
Although before visiting the winery I was expecting a completely charmless experience, I have actually been positively impressed by the honesty and the passion of the person who accompanied us through this very impressive winery. A winery that assembles under a single roof a production capacity for up to 30’000’000 bottles of wine and a cellar with some 7’000 barriques.
A lot of wines aficionados, including myself, tend to superficially write off a wine produced by such a big company on the ground that it is soulless. This is probably generally true, as big corporations hardly have one.
On the other side, after a deeper evaluation, I find that on this scale a wine should be assessed and appreciated mainly for its price/quality relationship. Judging from this Gran Reserva that spend at least 24 months in oak barrels, get released to the market 5 years after the vintage and sells at the winery for 13.50 EUR (19 CHF at Coop), in this respect Campo Viejo is doing a great job. Moreover, the company is strongly grounded in the principles of sustainable development and this must also be valued.
Unfortunately, the same cannot always be said of (much) smaller producer that pride themselves on a long family tradition and/or on practicing craftsmanship. Too often their wine doesn’t match Campo Viejo’s, neither in the PQR nor on the sustainability. To be industrial and to have a negative impact on the environment a winery doesn’t need to be huge.
Country: Spain
Region: Rioja
Grapes: Tempranillo, Graziano, Mazuelo
Type: Red
Vintage: 2011
Producer: Campo Vijeo
Price range: Medium (15-30 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 3/5