Great wines are usually pretty well known amongst wine lovers, but somehow some good things remain relatively obscure even after they are discovered and pronounced as great. Northern Spain’s Rioja region has made wines for thousands of years but only recently gained recognition for its extraordinary aged wines. These lovely wines are called crianza and refer to a special wine that is aged for at least a year in oak. These aged reds are made from tempranillo grapes which are thick skinned. This tougher skin has more tannin and reduces the acidity and sugar and the resulting wine. Because of this the grapes are often mixed with other Spanish varieties like grenache and carignan to give the wine some acidity and more body.
While there are other notable wines from the area none are as awarded as crianza. Though after you have tried a wine from Rioja than you will love them all. Crianza wine has a quality that is consistent and a price that makes it even more wonderful. These beautiful reds make lovely gifts with a wine accessory gift set or other special little thing to make them know you didn’t just buy a bottle of wine as a thoughtful gift.
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