Yes, you read the vintage on this Rosado (just the Spanish term for Rosé) correctly and, historically, one would not be surprised to see a well aged Rosado from Rioja, but as tastes changed and the market voted for a salmon-colored and fresh-fruit-driven style, all but a few stalwarts in Rioja stopped making the Reserva and Grand Reserva Rosados. Few people in Rioja understand the region’s historical winemaking as intimately as José Luis Ripa Sáenz de Navarrete, native of Rioja and Master of Wine, whose career has carried him through many of its most reputable bodegas and whose marriage to María José López de Heredia (whose aged Rosado is the most renowned remaining example of the traditional Rioja Rosado) places him at the heart of the classical Rioja tradition. When he launched his own label, he chose not the modern, fruit-forward style of rosé but the nearly forgotten category of aged Rioja Rosado, a style defined by slow oak fermentation, long barrel aging, and still longer aging in bottle before release. His 2020 Rosado draws from a hectare of 30-plus-year-old, bush-pruned Garnacha and Tempranillo in the Najerilla Valley of Rioja Alta, where calcareous clay soils carry a slightly higher iron content than the surrounding district. The grapes are destemmed and given a gentle 24-hour soak before the juice is racked into used 225- and 500-liter French oak barrels to ferment and rest for more than 30 months, building the savory depth, textural weight, and Sherry-like oxidative nuance. Released only after further bottle aging, the 2020 shows the complexity that comes with time: pale copper color shading toward onion skin, fine lines of citrus peel, quince, dried herbs, and a subtle creaminess from its long elevage, all underpinned by the acidity and structure of Rioja Alta’s high-altitude fruit. Give it good swirls in the glass to release the layers of this wine. This Rosado is not a summer diversion but a serious, cellar-worthy wine. Pair this with grilled meats, aged/creamy cheeses, rich seafood like salmon, or Spanish tapas/charcuterie.