Familia Martínez Zabala

Faustino I Gran Reserva 2011 featured in James Suckling’s Top 100 Wines of Spain for 2021

Faustino I Gran Reserva 2011 entre los 100 primeros Vinos de España 2021 por James Suckling

Bodegas Faustino, with a history spanning more than 160 years, has been famous since the 1960s for the iconic portrait by Rembrandt that has been the face of Faustino I, which revolutionised the world of wine. Julio Faustino, the creator of Faustino I Gran Reserva, decided to pay homage to his father, Faustino, by giving his name to the wine that would become an icon the world over. 

This classic, featuring a newly redesigned label, has been included in the Top 100 Wines of Spain list compiled by James Suckling, a major acknowledgement for this special wine, the world’s best-selling Rioja. 

This award-winning wine is an undeniably excellent vintage that, despite the presence of drought in some areas, was the result of good-quality, healthy vines. Although yields were somewhat lower in that year, the resulting wines are structured, with good colour and excellent quality.

This wine has spent at least 26 months in French and American oak barrels, with the following tasting notes: 

• Look: Clean, bright. Pretty red colour, developing to maroon.
• Smell: Intense and highly complex. Notes of ripe fruit. Aromas of vanilla, pastry, sweet spices (cinnamon, cloves). Balsamic and warm.
• Taste: Good entry, pleasant in the mouth, rounded. Light tannins, indicating good development in the bottle.
• Length: Lingering Reminiscent of stewed fruit. Lasting nutty notes, such as walnuts and hazelnutse

This great wine generally pairs well with barbecued meats, seared tuna and high-fat cured cheeses. It goes surprisingly well with mild Indian and Latin American dishes. Perfect with grilled octopus and baked potatoes, and with such Asian dishes as Wagyu beef and Peking duck. It works well even with desserts such as baked cheesecake and chocolate cake.

With packaging that was ground-breaking for its time and has lasted until the present day, its label was recently redesigned by the fourth generation of the family only a few weeks ago to pay yet another tribute, this time to Julio Faustino and to commemorate his legacy.