2018 Bodegas Pastor Diaz Castroviejo Reserva Especial Rioja DOCa

Most everyday Riojas are simple and forgettable. This one has a résumé — and the glass backs it up.

It's built the classic way: Tempranillo off the oldest vines the family owns, with Graciano for lift and backbone, aged in American and French oak and rested in bottle before release.

What lands in the glass is the polished, rounded style aged Rioja does so well — ripe fruit, integrated oak, a savory spiced edge from time in the cellar.

The family behind it, Bodegas Pastor Díaz, has four generations in the ground around Aldeanueva de Ebro, out in Rioja Oriental.

The vines sit on the pebbly, chalk-clay slopes of Monte Yerga — old plots, low yields, hand-picked. They recently brought in José Hidalgo, one of Spain's most respected winemakers, to run the cellar.

Pour it with lamb, a Sunday roast, game, or a plate of aged cheese. Soft tannins, long and balanced — the kind of red you open without ceremony and finish without regret.