94pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2020 Macán Clásico was cropped from a more generous yield. The grapes were put in a cold chamber for one night and then underwent a cold soak of three to four days, after which they inoculate the yeasts; in 2020, 25% of the yeasts were their native yeasts. It fermented in stainless steel, and the élevage was 45% in new French oak and 5% in new American oak barrels, 28% in second-use barrels and 22% in stainless steel for one year. The bottled wine has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.78 and 4.5 grams of acidity (tartaric). This is one of the most elegant vintages of this bottling so far. It has showy aromatics with notes of smoky bacon, a bit meaty, and the thing that surprised me more was the velvety texture. It was bottled in August 2022. Drink 2024 - 2030

94pts Tim Atkin

Gonzalo Iturriaga uses Tempranillo grapes from more than 20 parcels in San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Baños de Ebro to make Clásico, Macán's second wine. Aged in 40% new wood, it's s fragrant, precise, chalky red with bramble, plum and blackberry fruit flavours, refined French and American oak and supple tannins. One to drink before the bolder 2019. Drink 2026 - 2032

93pts James Suckling

Black olives and a hint of black bean puree to the fresh black cherries, damsons and a hint of mint. Refined, medium-bodied palate with fine, fresh tannins that are present but not grainy. Really elegant and long. Drinkable now, but will develop well in the next six to seven years.

Winemaker Notes

From the slopes of the Sierra de Cantabria, Macán Clásico is deeply rooted in the territory, in Rioja’s Sonsierra, an area with centuries of winemaking tradition, wisdom and culture. Deep and complex, it is a reflection of the freshness, fruitiness, vivacity and finesse of this terroir.

This wine is the result of a substantial investment in the selection, purchase and management of 100 hectares of vineyards since 2004. In addition, the work carried out in the winery since 2009 (first vintage released) is also commendable. Moreover, since 2016, the joint project of Tempos Vega Sicilia and Compagnie Vinicole Baron Edmond de Rothschild in DOCa Rioja boasts state-of-the-art facilities where innovation, technology and knowledge converge.

Macán Clásico is a single varietal, 100% Tempranillo. Its grapes come from plots with limestone and sandy-clay soils. The 2020 vintage was abundant, rainy, balanced and fluid. Although it was a challenging year due to Covid, in the vineyard we benefited from the fruitiness of the grapes and more elegant skins. We pushed the extraction a little further and put more emphasis on the oak in the ageing process, especially American oak, to give the wine more density.

Macán Clásico 2020 delivers a lively, vibrant, digestible, yet fun expression. Macán Clásico is gradually asserting its own style.