2010 Bodegas Escudero Serna Imperial Rioja Reserva 750 ml

Every year, Decanter magazine holds what they call “Panel Tastings”: Master of Wine-led sessions that dive deep into categories ranging from California Cabernet to Champagne-style Italian sparklers. In 2020, despite the challenges, the panels still managed to rate 1,391 bottles.

Nearly 200 of them fell into Decanter’s “Affordable Rioja” category. And when the elite panel—which included TWO Masters of Wine—weighed in on the entire field, the 2010 Bodegas Escudero Serna Imperial Reserva and its 95-point topped all others. 

We first tasted this treasure at a Napa Valley barbecue, and we marveled over it as our rack of lamb rested. Showing a dusty ruby color in the glass, this aged red takes you down a path full of warm red fruit, dried roses, lilacs, leather, and pipe tobacco dressed with lavender and spice. 

Bodegas Escudero dates back more than a century, to when Juan Escudero first started making wine in a small mountainside cave. The winery gained momentum when Juan’s grandson Benito, inspired by his father and grandfather, dove into the family business. He studied at the Requena School of Oenology and later at the Villafranca del Penedés School of Oenology, and even traveled to Bordeaux and Champagne to deepen his knowledge. 

The spirit of Benito is alive in the current Bodegas Escudero wines, which are sourced from the family’s holdings in La Rioja and Navarra—vineyards whose vines average 70 years of age. 

Serna Imperial hails from the Cuesta la Reina estate, located on a sun-drenched hillside. Hand-harvested and selected in the vineyard, it’s fermented in stainless steel tanks on indigenous yeasts before spending at least 24 months in aged American oak. The result is a pure Rioja treasure.