19.06.24 Today, Decanter World Wine Awards has announced the results of 2024 and Viña Monty Graciano 2016 has been awarded as “Best in Show” with 97 points, positioning itself as one of the best wines of the year and standing out among the few Spanish wines to receive this recognition.
Madrid, 19 de junio de 2024. Viña Monty Graciano 2016 is the winner of the Decanter World Wine Awards 2024, one of the most prestigious and recognized wine awards in the world. With a score of 97 points out of 100, Viña Monty Graciano 2016 has received the “Best in Show” award from Decanter World Wine Awards 2024, placing it among the 50 best references of the more than 18,000 that participated in this edition of the award. Viña Monty Graciano 2016 thus becomes one of only seven Spanish wines to receive this prestigious award and being the only Rioja red wine on the list.
This is the first time that a reference produced entirely from Graciano grapes has made the Decanter World Wine Awards’ list of the 50 best wines. “The late-budding and late-ripening Graciano is, in our warming times, a variety of increasing significance in Rioja, so we shouldn’t be surprised that a pure-Graciano Rioja emerged for the first time in our Best In Show selection this year. No youngster, though: this 2016 Reserva wine shows just how well this sometimes forbidding variety can perform in Rioja, given a suitable site and some age. In the glass, you’d guess that the wine was at least five years younger than it is: it’s still an opaque black-red. The aromas are pure and fresh, reminiscent as much of plants as of fruits, while the only palpable sweetness comes from the wine’s 28 months in oak. On the palate, you’ll find the wine firm and almost stern, with ample tannin and a fresh fruit core reminiscent of blueberries and damsons; there’s some root spice, too. Definitely a food choice, showing Rioja’s terroir in an unusual and dramatic light.”, highlights the Decanter World Wine Awards jury.
Viña Monty Graciano 2016 is a wine from a very good vintage marked by a harvest of great balance between acidity and alcoholic grain that provide aromatic quality and excellent phenolic maturity, giving it depth and persistence. “Viña Monty Graciano 2016 represents elegance and power. This native Rioja grape variety gives off an overwhelming personality and is capable of adapting to even the most demanding palates. At Bodegas Montecillo we are proud to offer a wine like this, timeless and that reflects in its flavor the winery’s careful attention to detail, love and passion,” explains Mercedes García Rupérez, winemaker and technical director of the winery.
This single varietal reference made from Graciano, a very special variety resulting from the union of two vineyards, one of them in Cenicero and the other in Rioja Oriental, has been aged for 28 months in semi-new French barrels and aged for a minimum of 18 months in the bottle. All this gives it an intense reddish color and elegant flavor with notes of graphite, pencil lead, licorice and black berries, accompanied by a subtle menthol touch. A full-bodied wine in the mouth, but firm and very well balanced.
This wine is part of the premium Viña Monty range of Bodegas Montecillo, one of the winery’s most iconic and historic brands that was recovered to commemorate its 150th anniversary. This line pays tribute to Viña Monty Gran Reserva 1975, a reference that brought both Bodegas Montecillo and the Rioja region international critical acclaim after winning in a blind tasting in Amsterdam. Under this brand, Bodegas Montecillo launched in 2020 three reserve wines including Viña Monty Graciano 2016, which brings glory again with these two awards to Bodegas Montecillo, continuing the legacy of Viña Monty Gran Reserva 1975. In addition, recovering the aesthetics and mint color so characteristic of the original Viña Monty line, all the wines of Bodegas Montecillo have undergone a restyling in their label and capsule, connecting the rest of the product range with Viña Monty.
Founded in 2004 by Decanter magazine, these awards are given annually, becoming one of the most anticipated events in the wine industry. Its selection process consists of a jury of experts composed of sommeliers, wine buyers, journalists and internationally renowned wine critics who conduct a blind tasting evaluating each wine according to its quality, balance, complexity, typicity and aging potential.Viña Monty Graciano 2016 has also been awarded this year 2024 by the International Wine Challenge with a gold medal, getting 95 points out of 100 for its exceptional quality and being one of only four wines from the D.O.Ca Rioja to win this award. These two awards are added to the track record achieved by Viña Monty Graciano 2016, which has accumulated other awards such as Mundus Vini, Bacchus, The Rioja Masters Drink Business, Guía Peñín, The Atkin Rioja Report, James Suckling, Guía Verema ADN, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Andreas Larson, Drink Business or Miquel Hudin.
