1998 Rioja Rosado

In this enlightened traditionalist high-tech vinification facility, maceration varies according to the vintage, and can easily be reduced in years when tannins are tough or green. Marques de Caceres ferments its white wines in new French oak and does part of the red wine malolactic fermentation in barrel as well. The reservas and gran reservas are aged for 20 to 24 and 24 to 30 months, respectively, and both get a higher percentage of French oak than the bodega's crianza American oak marks the longer-aging wines too much, notes director Enrique Forner. Like a number of other Rioja producers, Marques de Caceres freely admits to blending up to 15% fruit from other vintages (usually 5% younger wine and 10% older, according to Forner) in order to minimize the differences between years. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)