This month, we present an iconic, deep and brooding Rioja.  Your allocation is for one bottle of Lan Rioja Limitada. 

The estate’s flagship offering, the limited production Lan Edicion Limitada, represents Rioja at its richest. Limitada is the most modern wine in the lineup from Lan and it's an impressive tour de force. Dense purple in color, with abundant notes of cherries, creme de cassis, blackberries, chocolate, smoke, spice, and espresso roast, this full-bodied effort possesses a fleshy texture as well as good acidity, vibrancy, and up-lift. Long and polished on the finish.  Tastes amazing now but is certain to have a long life in front of it.  It should drink well for 10-12 years.

A blend composed of 80% Tempranillo, 15% Mazuelo (called Carignan elsewhere in the world), and 5% Graciano.

Bright cherry-red color with purple hues. Complex and elegant nose with hints of ripe cherries and wildberries; spicy and memories of mineral notes integrated with oak hints. Tasty in the mouth, it is wide and complex. You feel the oak tannins that become integrated and rounded along the time in the bottle. It leaves a long and lingering finish, with mineral notes that show its origin.

92 points, Steven Tanzer's International Wine Cellar  "Opaque ruby. Complex nose offers blackcurrant, dried rose, anise and pungent fresh herbs. At once suave and firm, with deep, medicinal cherry and dark berry flavors and a restrained sweetness. Solid and serious Rioja, with excellent finishing clarity and lingering notes of bitter cherry and candied rose. Give this some air, or cellar time."

RECIPE Spiced Grilled Duck with Plum Mostarda and Toasted Brioche Serves 6

This rich and flavorful dish takes very little time to make. You can make the mostarda with any stone fruits, like nectarines, or peaches, that you happen to find at the market.

• 6 star anise pods
• 3 tablespoons loose early grey te
• 4 teaspoons whole cloves
• 2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon green cardamom pods
• ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 6 duck breasts, about 10 ounces each
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dried cherries
• 1 tablespoon golden raisins
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ½ Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 4 plums, pitted and diced
• 2 tablespoons plum jam
• 1 cup Sauternes
• 4 basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 3 slices toasted brioche, ½ inch thick

Grind the spices until to a fine powder. Trim fat from the duck breasts, then score the fat on top of the breasts in a diagonal pattern. Season the breasts with salt and evenly coat both sides with the spice mixture. Cover and chill overnight.

Combine the wine, vinegar, cherries, raisins, sugar, mustard seeds and lemon in a suacpan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and boil until the raisins and cherries are plump. Add the apple, reduce heat and simmer for about a minute. Add the plums and cook until tender. Add the jam. In a separate pot bring the Sauternes to a boil and pour over the mostarda. Strain the mostarda over a clean bowl. Stir basil into the liquid. Reserve both liquid and fruit.

Preheat a grill to high.

Grill breasts, skin side down, until the skin is very crispy. Turn the breasts and cook for about 2 more minutes. Remove from the heat and let rest, covered loosely with tented kitchen foil.

Cut the toasted brioche slices in half and arrange on the center of 6 warm dinner plates. Spoon mostarda fruit over the brioche. Cut the duck breasts into ¼ inch thick slices and arrange over the fruit. Drizzle mostarda liquid around and over the meat.

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