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1981 vintage guide for Spain Rioja

drink soon

An excellent vintage producing intense, deeply coloured wines

Weather Conditions

Best Appellations

Best Producers

This was a ‘nearly’ year when quite a few major producers made excellent wines, most notably Faustino, Luís Cañas, Salceda, Montecillo, Olarra, Lopez-Heredia and Ondarre. Gran Reserva wine was made from 12% of the grapes harvested – more than in the grade-5 year 1982 – which tells its own story.

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