Grapes of Spain

Solarce Tinto

"We try to do a true translation of our vineyard's speech in terms of wine with the grapes it gives us, thus Solarce Tinto combines all the grape varieties we grow in our vineyards of Cogotillos, Presas and Manantíos" —

Winemaker's note

Appellation

Rioja D.O.Ca.

Grape(s)

60% Tempranillo, 30% Garnacha, 5% Maturana and 5% Cabernet; all estate-grown fruit

Altitude/Soil

530-600 meters / chalky clay soils

Farming Methods

Organic methods, Vegan

Harvest

Hand harvested into small boxes

Production

The wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks and underwent malolactic conversion in 500L oak vats

Aging

Aged for 8 months in 225L used French oak barrels

Wine Name

Scores

Downloads

Reviews

Solarce Tinto 2018

92 (OB) 91 (TA) 89 (VfC)

Label

Shelf Talker

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
92	OwenBargreen.com	2018 Casa La Rad ‘Solarce’ Rioja- The outstanding 2018 Casa La Rad ‘Solarce’ Rioja has a large portion of Garnacha (30% blended in. Big and generous on the mouth, this outstanding value comes through with good finesse and a bountiful core of red fruit flavors. Drink 2023-2030- Owen Bargreen - October, 2023
91	Tim Atkin MW	As perfumed as it is intriguing, the Solarce Tinto is an unusual cuvée of mostly Tempranillo with the remaining 60% divided between Graciano, Garnacha, Maturana and Cabernet Sauvignon. Smooth and grassy, with cassis and green herb aromas and a smooth, glossy, stylishly oaked palate. 2022-28 *Tim Atkin; Rioja Report* - February 2021**
89	View from the Cellar	The blend for the Solarce bottling from Casa La Rad is quite different than their Acentor, as the cépages here is sixty percent tempranillo, thirty percent garnacha and five percent each of maturana and cabernet sauvignon (perhaps paying homage to all those great old Marques de Riscal bottlings of yesteryear?). The wine is aged for eight months in used French barrels prior to bottling. The 2018 Solarce comes in at 14.5 percent octane and offers up a ripe and complex nose of black cherries, hung game, a touch of garrigue, coffee grounds, a fine base of soil and just a whisper of cedar from the used barrels. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and impressively transparent down to the soil, with a fine core, lovely focus and grip, well-integrated tannins and a long, complex and tangy finish. There is a touch of backend heat here, but the wine generally does a fine job of handling its octane quite well. Good juice that needs some time in the cellar. A fine value. 2024-2055. John Gilman - Issue #91 / February 2021

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Solarce Tinto 2019

92 (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
92	View from the Cellar	The Solarce Tinto bottling from Casa La Rad is composed from a blend of sixty percent tempranillo, thirty percent garnacha and five percent each of maturana and cabernet sauvignon. The grapes are hand-harvested and undergo primary fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Malo takes place in five hundred liter oak casks and the wine is aged in two hundred-twenty-five liter new French oak barrels. The 2019 version comes in at an even fourteen percent octane and offers up a lovely aromatic constellation of raspberries, black cherries, cloves, cigar ash, a good base of soil and a nice, understated framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a good core, ripe, firm tannins and a long, well-balanced and complex finish. This is a very good bottle of Rioja in the making, but it will need plenty of bottle age to let its tannins soften up properly. 2029-2065. John Gilman - Issue #98 March/April 2022

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Solarce Tinto 2020

89+ (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
89+	View from the Cellar	The 2020 Rioja “Solarce” bottling from Casa la Rad is crafted this year from a cépages of sixty percent Tempranillo, thirty percent Garnacha and five percent each of Maturana and Cabernet Sauvignon. The vines are farmed organically and the wine is raised for eight months in one hundred percent new French oak Bordeaux casks. It offers up a lovely young nose of raspberries, cloves, cigar smoke, a good base of soil tones, a touch of meatiness and a generous serving of cedary new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and nicely balanced, with a good core of red fruit, pretty soil inflection, tangy acids and a long, tannic and focused finish. The new oak component here is far more prominent on the nose than on the palate, and given some bottle age, the new wood should be nicely subsumed into the fruit of the wine and it will prove to be quite tasty. But, it would be nice to see this wine raised entirely in one wine barrels, just to give more prominence to some of the other aromatic components in the wine. It will need some cellaring time, but should prove to be a lovely bottle in due course. It is a good value. 2030-2065. John Gilman - Issue #103 January/February 2023.

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Solarce Tinto 2021

92 (VfC)

Label

Fact Sheet

Score	Publication	Review	Copy
92	View from the Cellar	The 2021 Rioja “Solarce” bottling from Casa La Rad is composed this year from a cépages of sixty percent tempranillo, thirty percent garnacha, and five percent each of maturana and cabernet sauvignon. The grapes are hand-harvested and undergo malolactic fermentation in puncheons, with the élevage lasting eight months in one to three year-old French oak Bordeaux barrels. The wine delivers a complex bouquet of black raspberries, cassis, Rioja spice tones, a good base of dark soil tones, cigar wrapper and spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full- bodied and already starting to show the first signs of velvetiness on the attack, with a good core of fruit, firm, well-integrated tannins and a long, nascently complex and new oaky finish. This is going to be very good wine in due course, but will need eight to ten years in the cellar to properly soften up its tannins and start to drink with true generosity. It is an excellent value! 2032-2075. John Gilman, Issue 109, January – February 2024

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