Who makes it
Bodegas Corral has made wine in Navarrete, a small municipality in the northern reaches of DOCa Rioja, since 1898. The founding belongs to Saturnino Daroca, a native Riojan winemaker who chose a particular hillside plot, planted vines, and set a family operation in motion that has not changed hands since. When Daroca's daughter married Martín Corral, the Corral surname passed onto the label and stayed there.
Four generations later, the bodega is still in Navarrete, still farming Tempranillo, and still selling the Don Jacobo range. The name covers reds, a white, and a rosado, running from Crianza through Reserva to Gran Reserva. Each tier follows the DOCa Rioja ageing requirements, but the bodega holds the Reserva to 24 months in French and American oak barrels plus a minimum of six months in bottle, and the Gran Reserva to 36 months in oak followed by 12 in bottle, both of which meet and in places exceed the legal floor.
Where it grows
Navarrete sits in La Rioja Alta, the western subzone of DOCa Rioja, where altitude, Atlantic influence, and cooler growing seasons slow ripening and preserve the acidity that Tempranillo needs to age. The village is roughly 12 kilometres west of Logroño along the old pilgrim road, close enough to the Ebro plain to benefit from its warmth in summer and high enough to feel the temperature drop at night.
La Rioja Alta has long shaped the character of aged Rioja reds: firm tannins, darker fruit, higher natural acidity, and a slower evolution in oak and bottle than the warmer eastern zones. Don Jacobo's tiered range follows that logic directly. The oak ageing draws out savory, tertiary characters rather than pushing sweetness forward, and the bottle ageing before release rounds the tannins without softening the fruit core entirely.
How it is made
The cellar
The Don Jacobo red range is built on Tempranillo as the primary grape, with the blend varying by vintage and tier. The Crianza has shifted between Tempranillo-led blends with Garnacha and Mazuelo and a more concentrated Tempranillo-Graciano pairing depending on the year. Graciano adds grip and aromatic lift, and its presence in some vintages signals a more ambitiously structured Crianza than a simple varietal reading would suggest.
The Blanco uses Viura as its majority grape (80%), with Maturana Blanca and Garnacha Blanca making up the remainder. Maturana Blanca is a rare indigenous Riojan variety, rarely seen outside the denomination, that adds texture and aromatic complexity to what could otherwise be a straightforward Viura-driven white. The bodega also makes separate Maturana Tinta and Maturana Blanca varietal releases, which treat these indigenous grapes as subjects in their own right rather than blending components.
What they make
The Don Jacobo range runs across five styles. The reds climb through three tiers: Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva. Each step up adds ageing time and changes the tannin integration and fruit concentration.
Don Jacobo Crianza is the entry point, with Tempranillo as the lead grape and the blend varying by vintage between Garnacha-Mazuelo blends and Graciano-heavy compositions. At the Crianza level the fruit is more immediate, the oak less absorbed, and the wine is meant for relatively early drinking.
Wines to try
First bottle
Start with Don Jacobo Reserva. It sits at the midpoint of the range where oak and Tempranillo fruit are in clearest dialogue: two years in French and American barrels, then at least six months in bottle before release. The nose shows ripe plum, dark cherry, and aromatic herbs over a base of toasted oak and sweet spice. The palate is polished, with tannins that have rounded without disappearing, balanced acidity, and a finish that carries the wood character without letting it dominate. This is traditional Rioja at a tier where the wine has real complexity but still feels accessible, not severe.