"The 2023 Rioja “Viñas Jóvenes” Tinto from Migel Merino is composed from a cépages of ninety-two percent tempranillo and eight percent graciano. The vines range from ten to twenty years of age and the wine was raised for one year in five hundred liter puncheons that had previously been used for Migel’s Reserva bottling. The wine comes in at 14.5 percent in this vintage and offers up a fine bouquet of black raspberries, cassis, cigar wrapper, a fine base of soil and a nice touch of oak from the second use puncheons. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and nicely plush at the core, with good soil undertow, ripe, moderate tannins, good balance and a long, complex and very gently warm finish. This really good young Rioja that will be a fine drink once it has had a bit of time to soften up its backend tannins. 2033-2065+."