1999 Viña Gravonia Crianza, R. López de Heredia, Rioja

  This week’s pick is recommended by Mr. Nick Gorevic, founder of New York City’s Home Wine School.  Made entirely of the Viura grape and harvested from the Gravonia Vineyard, this Crianza is barrel-aged for four years and bottle-aged for more than 4 years before release.  As 1999 is the latest release, this wine is worth seeking out if only to discover what it has been doing all these years.

  Mr. Gorevic points out the wine’s dark golden color, strong citrus notes and sherry-like oxidized flavors.  These flavors ought to mature over a number of years despite the vintage being nearly 10 years old.  For the amount of time and effort put into a bottle of this wine, it is an incredible value at around $23 a bottle.  New Yorkers can find it at Frankly Wines, and the rest of us can obtain it from a number of retailers listed on Wine-Searcher.

  To teach people more about wines like this, Mr. Gorevic created the Wine Class in a Box which offers 6 wines specifically chosen to hone your tasting skills.