Reserve Wines

In the New World, there is no definition of a Reserve wine. It is understood that it is a wine that is of higher quality than its counterparts. The term, or concept of, “quality” comes in several forms: quality of the grapes, vineyard, growing region, and winemaker. Reserve wines are not always made every year, only in the best vintages.

In the New World, you can assume that reserve level wines are aged in new oak barrels (mostly French) for a longer period of time than their counterparts, assuming a richer, more extracted and oak influenced wine and one that can generally enhance over time in the bottle. Depending upon where a reserve wine is from, the factors differ. The following apply to a reserve wine in the New World:

• Higher price and press

• Best quality fruit, smaller production

• Longer aging in oak barrels; more new oak

• Exceptional pedigree with high demand

• Special barrels/lots/specific vineyards of distinction

In the Old World, specifically Spain and Italy, the term and concept tends to have much more stringent requirements for their designations. The requirements are mainly found in the amount of time a wine has been aged and the quality of the barrels and grapes.

In Spain, wines labeled with ‘Reserva’ must be aged for 3 years with a minimum of 6 months of that time in oak barrels. This used mostly for Tempranillo wine from Rioja, Toro, Ribera del Deuro and Valdepeñas. ‘Gran Reserva’ wines must be aged for 5 years with a minimum of 2 years in oak barrels.

In Italy, each Italian wine region has a different definition of a ‘Riserva’ (in Italy, the word is spelled with an i) wine. Most wines will be aged a minimum of 2 years to be labeled Riserva. Amarone is aged for 4 years and Barolo must be aged over 5 years before leaving the cellar.