Rioja and Ribera del Duero

 In a tasting of 20  mid-level wines from the two major Tempranillo regions of Rioja and Ribera del Duero, four wines stood out. A number of the other wines were a bit out of balance with tannins performing strong, but fruit less so.

My favorite wine was the 2019 Alejandro Fernandez Pesquera Tinto Reserva. Robert Parker once called a Pesquera wine the Petrus of Spain. Well, this obviously was not this wine. This wine impressed with its beautiful fruit, its elegance and its long finish. It is a slightly bigger wine than the following three, but it is in perfect harmony.

Score: 93/++ 

The second wine, a little lighter, but with similar characteristics, was the 2020 Los Tres Dones Tinto Fino. It had quite a generous feel of dark fruit and soft tannins.

Score: 92/++ 

                           

The third Ribera del Duero wine in this 'finals' list was the 2020 Protos '27 Tinto. This wine spent 24 months in American oak, but despite this, the wine had a delicate texture, some minerality and a light finish.

Score: 91/++

The one wine from Rioja which made the list was the 2018 Valenciso Rioja Reserva. The grapes come from Rioja Alta, from vines at least 60 years old, and organically farmed. There is minimal oak influence, showcasing the beautiful fruit. Some earthy flavours add to complexity.

Score: 91/++

Overall, Ribera del Duero wines did a little better with a more rounded profile from the warmer region. Rioja wines can soar very high, but they need to be the very best (and expensive), in my experience. 

Dominio De Atauta La Mala

 The third and final single vineyard wine I tasted from this estate was the 2016 Dominio de Atauta La Mala Tempranillo. It is called La Mala (the bad one), because the vineyard delivered low yields to the grower. Now of course, it is the good one. The vineyard is 0.7ha of 130 year old vines. It is one of the highest in Ribera del Duero, at 950m, and facing north. There is only 70cm of poor sandy soil before the roots hit limestone rock.

This wine shows great clean purity. The intense sour cherry flavour delivers a steely mouthfeel. Acidity of this wine is high, as the minerality on the finish is accompanied by firm tannins. This profile clearly reflects the vineyard location, orientation, and soil. I find the flavours are losing out to acidity and tannin structure, but this is a matter of personal preference. The wine is well made. It will benefit from some serious decanting.

Score: 92/+ 

Dominio de Atauta Valdegatiles

 

The 2016 Dominio de Atauta Valdegatiles is my second single vineyard wine from this remarkable and unique estate. I reviewed the first one a month ago. This wine was the first single vineyard wine made by Atauta, starting in 2000. The vineyard is 1ha in size, and sits on two metres of clay above calcareous rock at the bottom of the valley. The wine is matured in French oak barrels for 16 months, and bottle aged for almost four years.

The wine is quite a contrast to the powerful Llanos del Almendro. It is red fruited, full-bodied, but soft and smooth. Black olive and earthy flavours add to the complex and silky mouthfeel. This is an elegant wine, which is perfect to drink now, but has the structure to live well for many years.

Score: 95/+++ 

Dominio de Atauta

 My favourite vineyards in Spain are in the remote valley of Atauta in Ribera del Duero. There are dozens of micro plots here with low yielding Tempranillo bush vines over 100 years old. I have written more about this in an older blog. Most of the grapes end up with Dominio de Atauta, the winery at the entrance of the valley. I have just been drinking the 2016 Dominio de Atauta Llanos del Almendro, one of their four single vineyard wines. 2016 is an ideal vintage in Atauta, with above average rainfall in the first half of the season, and a dry second half, ideal for the 140 year old vines. Accompanying the wine bottle was a little brochure, which happens with quite a few premium wines. This one has the perfect layout to describe the terroir and special nature of the wine. It is simple and to the point.

This is what it says:

page 1: overall wine characteristic

page 2: place of Llanos delo Almendro amonst different terroirs

page 3: Atauta valley features

page 4: altitude and plot locations (920m)

page 5: soil profile (sand over calcareous rock)

page 6: climate (high day and night temperature variation, windy)

page 7: biodynamic management

page 8: harvest statistic and winemaking

page 9: all this leads to wine with finesse and elegance

page 10: 2016 vintage characteristics

I wish every winemaker would describe premium wines in this way. Now on to the wine.

This wine opens up with black cherry, blackcurrant, and some earthy flavours. Oak (20% new) is noticeable, but well integrated. This is a full-bodied wine, powerful and with intense flavours. It delivers a full, slightly dense mouthfeel. At the same time, this wine is sophisticated and elegant. Crisp acidity, and silky and firm tannins prepare you for a long and lasting finish.

This is a profound wine. It's velvety texture gives it something aristocratic. I highly recommend this wine (it is not easy to find).

Score: 96/+++  

 

Dominio de Es La Mata

 The valley of Atauta is one of the most astonishing little wine regions in the world. It is an isolated area about 100km east of the main area of Ribera del Duero. What you see is a few deserted stone houses, fallen into disrepair, and tens, if not hundreds of family cellars, some as much as 500 years old. Here, simple presses were used, then the wine was stored in the underground cask cellar. 

This practice has disappeared now, but what has remained are maybe 100 small vineyards, mostly less than 1ha in size. Viticulturalist Bertrand Sourdais came to this area in 1999, co-founded Dominio de Atauta, and aggregated the fruit, much from vines more than 100 years old. He left in 2010 and formed a number of new wineries based in Soria, not far from there.

The fruit for the flagship winery, Dominio de Es, still comes from Atauta. The wines are rare, but I got my hand on a 2019 Dominio de Es La Mata.

This is a single vineyard wine from a 0.33ha plot. The soil is sand and calcareous rock over clay, altitude over 900 meters. You already notice on the nose, this is a big wine for Tempranillo, although only 13.8% alc. The yield was only 1t/acre in this year. The wine is concentrated, with blackberry and mulberry flavours dominant. French Oak is quite noticeable. It is still an elegant wine, but a bit blocky, with dry tannins.

The highlight is on the front palate, not the back, with a medium to long finish. The wine is clearly too young to drink and is likely to improve with time.

Score for now: 93/+

Flor de Pingus

 Peter Sisseck, the very smart Dane, is the founder and owner of Pingus. He researched Ribera del Duero meticulously before he settled on two vineyards of different soils which deliver the fruit for the Pingus wine. If anybody is interested how to create an ultra premium brand, and a wine which sells for more than US$2000 per bottle, one could do worse than studying this story. No I have never tasted this wine.

However, there is a little brother, Flor de Pingus, and this I tasted a few days ago. This wine is a blend of six other vineyards of the region, from 19 biodynamically farmed parcels. He and others hold the view that blended wines are superior to single vineyard wines of Ribera del Duero because of quite extreme soil conditions.

The 2019 Pingus 'Flor de Pingus' shows a very dark inky colour. It is quite aromatic on the nose. One would expect a big, concentrated wine on the palate, but this is not the case. The dark cherry flavours and spice are very elegant; the wine almost dances on the palate with its silky tannins. However, I find the wine lacks some drive and power, which I would have expected from such a premium wine.

Score: 94/++

Valenciso Tasting

 Valenciso is a favourite producer from Rioja Alta. In Rioja, most Tempranillo is doused in American oak. The thoughtful couple from Valenciso wants the fruit to shine, and when oak is used, it is French. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a rare tasting of a number of their wines. 

White wines from Rioja are underestimated. The 2020 Valenciso Blanco is a blend of 70% Viura and 30% Grenache Blanc. After a wild ferment, the wine is aged in untoasted Russian oak barrels for nine months. It is very fresh, but has depth in its balanced mouthfeel. There are subtle spices on the palate, and the zesty acidity leads to a focused finish. This is quite a serious and flavoured wine (93 points).

The first red is a new wine, the 2018 Valenciso Cemento. The fruit comes from 55 year old vines, grown at 550m altitude. As the name suggests, and the picture below shows, this wine is fermented and matured for 30 months in concrete tanks. It sees no oak. The wine is very fresh, with great purity, and red plum and blueberry flavours. It is a wine of medium intensity, with fine tannins and a medium finish (92 points).

I then tasted four Reserva wines. These are the Valenciso flagship wines. The vines come from a number of estate owned vineyards, with a minimum of 60 years old. They all are managed organically. The winery treatment is interesting: fermentation in concrete, then matured 18 months in low-toasted French oak (20% new). Then, the wine is transferred back to concrete tanks for 12 to 24 months. Because the wine clarifies so well in concrete, it is neither fined nor filtered before bottling.

I tasted from old to newer. The first wine is the 2001 Reserva. From a great vintage, this is now a beautiful mature and mellow wine. The concentrated fruit, mainly of dark plum, is still very present. Smoky flavours add to complexity. The mouthfeel is soft and silky, leading to a smooth and long finish. This is a beauty (96 points). 

The 2008 Reserva has a much younger feel. Cherry and subtle spice flavours are supported by fine tannins, but this wine does not have the depth or length of the earlier and later wines (92 points).

The 2011 Reserva from a warm year is a standout. Many Rioja wines from this year were very ripe, but this wine is perfectly balanced. It is deeply flavoured, with more volume than the 2008. Dark cherry and plum flavours are elegant and lead to a long and satisfying finish (95 points).

The 2014 Reserva does not have the same depth, but it delivers pure and beautiful fruit flavours of raspberry and black cherry. Minerality develops on the back palate, giving away the calcareous and limestone soils of the vineyards. The finish is not quite as penetrating as the 2011 (94 points).

If you are interested in drinking fresh and pure Tempranillo, Valenciso should be on your list.

Two Spanish Beauties

 

Spanish wines have never received the accolades of Italian wines. However, they can be very delicious and unique. I recently tasted two impressive examples.

The 2004 Cune Gran Reserva Imperial would be difficult to source now, but if it is on offer somewhere, do not hesitate. This Rioja Tempranillo is intense on the nose. It is dark fruited, with some herbal overtones. This is a smooth and balanced wine, full bodied, yet with a certain lightness on the palate. This is an elegant wine, at peace with itself.

Score: 95/+++

The 2014 Clos Mogador Manyetes from Priorat is a blend of predominantly Grenache, Carignan and Shiraz. This is quite a different style from the Rioja. This wine is still quite fresh. The flavours are difficult to pin down. The palate is concentrated and tightly knit. There is raspberry, blackberry, licorice. It is complex. But the wine is not so much fruit orientated. Minerality and some saltiness are strong and wound up in balanced acidity. With all this, it is a polished wine.

Score: 94/+++

Rioja, Part 5

 Bodegas Bilbainas control 250ha in 50 plots in Rioja Alta. This points to a typical Rioja blending operation. Two aspects stand out. Bilbainas is organic, and it has vineyards in limestone soil.   

I tasted a white wine and a rosé under the Viña Pomal brand. The white was made predominantly from Viura, the rosé from Tempranillo, of course. These were ok wines, but nothing special.

I then had the classical line-up of Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva. The 2016 Crianza is matured in American oak, and tastes of fresh fruit and vanilla. 80,000 cases of this are drunk mainly in bars in the afternoon, with something to nibble on. The 2014 Reserva is half this volume and sells for an astonishing 12 €. It has more intensity and firm tannins. Then we have the 2011 Gran Reserva. It is a 90/10 Tempranillo/Graciano blend, spends three years in barrel, then three in bottle, before it is marketed. Only 2500 cases are made of this, at 26 € per bottle. This is a more rounded an elegant wine, still quite fresh, with silky tannins.

If you want to experience traditional Rioja winemaking at good quality, this is the winery for you. But now we step it up a bit.

Muga is sometimes described as Rioja's First Growth, and I got to experience why. The winery was founded in 1932. It owns 150ha, and contracts another 150ha. One special feature is its own cooperage.

They build 900 casks per year, 90% from French, 10% from American oak. It is a very laborious process. To start with, the wood gets dried for 5! years. The big advantage is that you can customize the building and toasting to your requirements. And Muga does not do things by halves. They also own 250 large American vats, which have been in use for 50 years for alcoholic fermentation. Total production is 130,000 to 170,000 cases per year.

The 2018 Muga White, made from 90% Viura is fresh and harmonious, with medium acidity. With red wines, Muga makes traditional wines, but also modern ones.

The 2015 Reserva is made in the traditional style. It is a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Granacha, 10% Mazuelo and Graciano. It is matured in their own light to medium toasted barrels. 60,000 cases made. The wine is red fruited, with some spice, smoke and vanilla. I found the finish a little rough. The 2014 Reserva Seleccion Especial is a similar blend. This wine is matured for over two years in French oak (40% new), 15,000 cases made. The red fruit is more concentrated, and the spice and mocca flavours more intense. This is a more elegant and silky wine.

The next wine, the 2011 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a step up and really a great wine. It comes from special clay-limestone vineyards at high altitude. The wine is picked late. The wine is aged for one year in American oak, then for three years in French oak. This wine tastes of blackberry fruit, with forest floor and cocoa notes rounding out a ripe, yet elegant flavour. The wine provides a big mouthfeel. It is still fresh and balanced with a lingering finish. You have to put 70 € on the table for this.

The 2015 Torre is a blend of 75% Tempranillo, 15% Mazuelo (Carignan), 10% Graciano. The wine is aged for 18 months in 100% new French oak. This wine is a bit of a monster, very concentrated and not totally balanced at this point. It needs time.

Overall, Muga is a very impressive winery. The blending adds to the complexity of the wines, and the oak treatment, while substantial, is quite light.

The last winery visit is at CVNE, sometimes called Cune.  It is one of the original railway station wineries in Haro. So I come back to where I started. It is another large winery with 500,000 cases from many plots in Rioja Alta and Alavesa. It includes in fact five wineries.

Most of the wines made are in the traditional style, but the Contino winery has branched out into single vineyard wines. The first wine I taste is the Viña Real Crianza, a fresh, simple wine of dark cherry fruit. This is followed by the 2015 Contino Reserva. This wine is quite concentrated with strong tannins. The 2012 Cune Gran Reserva is made in the old style with American oak quite prominent.

The Imperial winery is kind of the premium winery with a smaller production of 18,000 cases. The Imperial Gran Reserva is the only Spanish wine which was named number 1 in the Wine Spectator Top 100. It was in 2013, but for a different vintage from the one I taste, which is 2012. This is a very good wine. The vineyards have different soil profiles, adding to complexity. The blend is 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo. This is similar to the other wines. Maturation took place in old French and American oak. Black cherry and forest fruits form the flavour. The tannins are velvety and soft, delivering an elegant mouthfeel.

I then taste the Contino single vineyard wines. This is the chateau concept with a large vineyard surrounding the winery. The wines are made from this 62ha vineyard.

 

The 2017 Contino Granacha is fermented in concrete eggs and then matured  in used large French oak vessels. The result is a raspberry fruity, quite sweet wine. The 2015 Contino Graciano is the last to be harvested. The grapes are thick skinned with intense colour. This wine needs medium to high toasted French oak. Black cherry and eucalypt flavours are packaged in firm tannins and high acidity. It is not easy to make a very pleasing wine from 100% Graciano. This variety is usually added to give Tempranillo additional structure, but on its own, it is pretty tough. 

The final wine is the 2016 Contino Viña del Olivo, a 90/10 blend of Tempranillo/Graciano. The wine is matured for 18 months in  French oak. Dark cherry and blackberry fruit is dominant, but there is also black pepper, anise and mint. This is a very smooth wine of great length. When I tasted the previous two wines, I could not quite see the benefit of the single vineyard concept, but this wine is something special.

OVERALL CONCLUSION: I only touched the surface of the Rioja region. It delivers incredible value for money; Crianza wines at 12 to 15 €, 5-10 year old Reservas and even Gran Reservas at 20 to 30 €. I actually preferred the fruit forward Crianzas in most cases. But a modern style Reserva, such as from Muga can still be fresh, and deliver good complexity. When it comes to single vineyard wines, there is a great variety of styles. I liked the precision of Valenciso, and the modernity of Altari. Pricing varies dramatically, from 20 € up to 300 € for the Altari El Pison. 

THE END 

 

 

 

Rioja, Part 4

 Artadi is a young winery based in Rioja Altavesa, founded in 1985. It is not steeped in tradition. It left the Rioja Appelation in 2015. Today, it is one of  Rioja's, in fact Spain's icon producers. The man behind this is winemaker Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle.

He described that when he made El Pison, their flagship wine, it was meant as a wine for his grandfather, not as a single vineyard wine. But in any event, they went single vineyard in 2009 and stopped blending in 2014. Today, they make El Pison (which I did not get to taste) plus five single vineyard wines plus three village wines for local consumption from 80ha of 80 plots. They are all 100% Tempranillo. Ageing is no more than 10-12 months.

The 2.4ha El Pison vineyard; yield 3t/ha

The village wine 2016 Viñas de Gain White is based on the Viura grape, small parcels of 25 to 100 year old vines. The flavours are complex; citrus, orange blossom, hazelnut. This wine has quite a big mouthfeel, but balanced with good acidity. The 2017 Viñas de Gain Red is a fresh and aromatic wine. It is a little foward, but has a good tannic backbone.

The 2016 Valdegines comes from a 30 year old 4ha vineyard with sandstone rock in part, and clay-limestone in another part. The wine is quite floral and fresh tasting. The red berry fruit is delicate, and the wine quite elegant. Gentle tannins and good acidity complete the picture. The 2016 La Poza is quite different. The vines from this 1.2ha vineyard are 60 years old. The soil is silty-clay. This explains the much bigger palate. The wine is black fruited, peppery and with elegant mocca notes. Round and dense tannins make this a much more powerful proposition.

It was fascinating to experience such different tastes from the same grape variety and vineyards not far from each other. Altari is clearly right to explore and show this.

A brief visit at Viñedos de Paganos showed the differences with sister winery Sierra Cantabria. Sierra Cantabria makes 50,000 cases of traditional wine. I tasted the 2015 Crianza, which is typical of this style. It is fresh, showing pure Tempranillo fruit, backed by American oak. The 2014 Colleccion Privada is from older vineyards. It is made 50% by carbonic maceration and 50% traditional methods. Maturation 50% in French, 50% American oak. This is a big wine. I found it a bit unbalanced and the finish harsh.

In front of the Paganos winery is the 25ha El Puntido vineyard. It was planted in 1975 and is organic. The company makes small volume special wines from here plus the Calados del Puntido, which actually takes fruit from three vineyards (yes, the Spanish can be a bit confusing).

The 2014 Calados del Puntido is matured for 14 months in used French oak barriques. The red fruit tastes very pure. The wine has a good drive with medium intensity. The finish is a bit thick and tannic.

A visit to Valenciso was an absolute highlight. His wines are all about finesse. I reviewed my visit on this blog before, so I will skip it here.

Three more wineries to go!! 

Rioja, Part 3

 From Haro I drive east to Marques de Riscal. The Frank Gehry designed  building is perhaps the most famous winery building in the world. The colour scheme is supposed to represent a wine bottle, with the beige cork above a red wine bottle. In contrast to this modernity stands the history and tradition of this winery, founded in 1858.

 

During the visit, I was reminded of dining at a waterfront restaurant, where due to the great location there is no need to present excellent food. Because of its fame, Riscal may think they get away with ordinary wine - and probably they do.

The 2015 Reserva is aged in American oak for two years. Vanilla flavours dominate the fruit. This is their bread and butter wine with over 300,000 cases per year, I think. The 2013 Gran Reserva, from 80 year old vines, has more intensity and better rounded tannins. When I get to the 2015 Baron de Chirel, I find some enjoyment. This wine is a blend of 70% Tempranillo and 30% other varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon the second biggest. The fruit comes from 100 year old vines, and the juice spends two years in new oak. This wine has more of a modern feel, with blueberry and black cherry fruit in an elegant frame. The silky tannins lead to a smooth finish. Only 4,000 cases are made of this wine.

Overall, the main attraction is the architecture here. The building houses an expensive hotel. I suggest you look, don't taste and move on.

Back in Haro for a visit at Lopez Heredia. This is the most astonishing traditional winery I have ever seen. Wine is matured in used American oak only, 8-15 years old. Alcoholic fermentation takes place in 100 year old vats. The argument about the old oak is that the pores are very thin by then, and there is less oxidation. What I found disconcerting was the amount of mold everywhere. There is a (dubious) argument this is good for wine, but it is definitely not good for the people working there.

The 2007 Bosconia Gran Reserva spent 10 years in oak. It is a blend of 80% Tempranillo/15% Granacha. This is quite a powerful, red fruited wine, and still fresh. The tannins are quite coarse. The 2007 Tondonia Gran Reserva spent 'only' six years in oak. It is a similar blend. This is a more elegant wine with good persistence. It is darker fruited, but a lighter wine than the Bosconia. If you want to experience the Rioja of yesteryear, this is the place to go. Overall production: 40,000 cases.

From the traditionalist to the innovator Luis Cañas. They started to bottle wines in the late 60s; now 150,000 cases. There is a strong emphasis on viticulture. The vineyards are 60-100 years old. They rescued 30 different varieties from the early 20th century. A typical Rioja scenario: they pick 450ha from 1000 tiny plots. They are committing to the new regulatory regime, which will allow them from the 2017 vintage to bottle wine from three subregions, then village wine, and single vineyard.

My tasting was still based on the old classification. The 2013 Reserva was black fruited and quite tannic. The 2014 Seleccion de la Familia includes Cabernet Sauvignon. It showed more fruit intensity. The 2017 El Palacio was by far the best wine. There is more emphasis on the fruit, less ageing and in larger 500l barrels.  

They own a second winery in Rioja, Amaren. They go back to the past as a gateway to the future. They use concrete tanks to make the wine plus French and American oak for maturation. The vineyards are located in Alavesa, as is the case for Luis Cañas. The 2009 Reserva 60 is made in a more traditional way, and is very enjoyable. The concentrated fruit is still fresh, and the structure strong. A special treat was to taste the 2014 El Regollar, a single vineyard wine. This is the name of the less than 1ha plot, planted 116 years ago with 9 varieties on rocky soil. So this is a classic field blend, dominated by Tempranillo. It is very elegant, with silky tannins and a velvety mouthfeel. A clear highlight.

In case you are confused. There can be single vineyard wines before 2017, but they are 'non-conformist' and sit outside of regulations. In the future, Luis Cañas and Amaren will introduce close to half a dozen single vineyard wines, I think.

I spent more time at Luis Cañas than I anticipated, so the last stop of the day was a short one at Finca Valpiedra, and I could not make it to one of the sister wineries. One peculiarity is that they own an 80ha vineyard, otherwise unheard of in Rioja. And doesn't the picture remind you of La Craux in Chateauneuf-du-Pape?

Unfortunately, the wines I tasted from all four related wineries do not reach the heights of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The most interesting wine was the 2016 Petra de Valpiedra, a 100% Grenache - yes, this exists in Rioja. This wine is matured for 6 months in new French oak, then 19 months in old oak. The alcohol is a surprisingly low 13.5% (for Grenache). There are raspberry flavours, but also dark fruit, cassis. There is good acidity to balance the mouthfeel, and the tannins are finely grained.

A cross section of wines from Finca Valpiedra, Finca Montepedroso, Viña Bujanda

 

 

   

Rioja, Part 2

 My first stop in Haro was at Rioja Alta. This winery was established in 1890 to fulfill the requirements of Bordeaux merchants. There is a lot of tradition here, but also modernity, demonstrated, as an example, by this flashy showroom.

Spanish inheritance law means that fortunes have to be divided equally between children. Wine growing has been going on in this region for close to a thousand years. As a result, individual vineyards are small. Rioja Alta had to source grapes from many vineyards to meet the thirst of the Bordeaux merchants. It was obvious that wines had to be blends from many vineyards, 150 today. Rioja Alta controls over 550ha in Rioja.

The second key aspect is oak. Rioja Alta owns more than 20,000 barrels to accommodate long ageing processes. This is simply astonishing and mind blowing.

It is not surprising then that Rioja Alta has its own cooperage, which forms the American oak to its specifications. 

I tasted the classic range with the winemaker.

Torre de Oña on the left, Rioja Alta on the right

The best wines are the Ardanza Reserva, an 80/20 Tempranillo/Granacha blend, which is quite powerful and spicy; the Arana Gran Reserva 2012, a 95/5 Tempranillo/Graciano blend, which is still fresh and elegant, with good complexity and a long finish; and the 2010 Gran Reserva 904, first made in 1904. This is a 90/10 Tempranillo/Graciano blend. The wine spends four years in barrel and three years in bottle before release. It is a mature wine, but the fruit is still good with a serious expression of minerality in the wine.

In 1995, the company bought a winery in Rioja Altavesa, Torre de Oña. The vineyards sit at an altitude of 600m and are grouped around the Bodega. There is an opportunity to produce single vineyard wines here, but at present, the three wines are picked from different plots and made in the Crianza or Reserva style. 

Rioja Alta is a traditional winery in that its key wines are Reservas following the regulatory regime of maturation. At the same time, it has a strong quality focus, for example 13% of grapes are discarded from the sorting tables. Modern techniques are employed, such as gravity principles, and an innovative racking system.

My second stop is Roda, just across the road. There are differences here. This winery is much smaller than Rioja Alta, and only 30 years old. It uses only grapes from bush wines, and everything is matured in French oak. Roda makes about 10,000 cases per year.

Roda on the left, Corimbo (Ribera del Duero) on the right

The first wine is the 2016 Sela, a blend of 87% Tempranillo, 7% Graciano, 6% Granacha. The wine comes from 15 to 30 year old vines, and is matured in larger, used French oak. This wine is all about fruit and freshness. It is elegant with silky tannins, made in the Crianza style.

Roda is made with a focus on red fruit, it is floral and fresh, a similar blend to the Sela, but with more fruit weight. It is influenced by the Mediterranean climate. In contrast, the Roda I is black fruited, and more influenced by the cooler Atlantic climate. I tasted the 2013. I was impressed with the complex profile of black fruit, spices, licorice, and how these long flavours came together.

The Cirsion is the flagship wine, made from the oldest parcels, only 400-600 cases per year. It is aged in 100% new oak, but only for 8 months. Roda does not want the oak to take over. It is like a best barrel approach. The 2016 is a dark, brooding wine, big volume with smoky and earthy elements. At 150 Euro, it is not cheap. 

Roda does not use the Crianza and Reserva descriptions. There is definitely an emphasis on fruit here, as opposed to oak, and the Cirsion is certainly not traditional.

To be continued... 

  

Muga Rosé

The story of Rosé is rapidly developing. At first, we had wines which were confected, and with some residual sugar. Then we had the wave of pale, savoury and dry Rosé, which currently rules the world, lead by a plethora of producers from Provence and Bandol. Now comes along Muga. Muga is a leading Rioja producer, sometimes described as a grand cru or first growth of Rioja. I visited the winery last year, and was very impressed with their high end wines. The Rosé is not aiming quite as high, but is an interesting wine, as we shall see.

This wine is obviously made from Tempranillo, not the more popular Grenache, Pinot Noir or Shiraz. It is hard to see from the image because of some reflection, but the colour of this 2018 Muga Rosé is still pale, but not as pale as the typical French style.

This hint carries over to the palate. There is more flavour and a bigger mouthfeel in this wine. Raspberry and red cherry fruit dominate in this wine. The sensation is of dried, not ripe fruit, as the wine itself is bone dry. Acidity keeps it fresh and vibrant, and the finish is balanced. Overall, this Rosé carries more interest than many others. While it is basically a food wine, I am happy to drink it on its own as well.

Score: 92/++ 

La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904

Traditional Rioja, in particular Gran Reserva, which tends to be matured for many years, is characterized by strong oak flavours. I visited La Rioja Alta, one of Rioja's leading wineries last year and tasted this wine. With more time on my hands at home, I was interested how I would view the 2010 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 now.

The colour is a bright, yet intense ruby. On the nose, red fruited aromas, cherry and raspberry, dominate. There are also secondary notes, such as tobacco and cocoa. This is a complex bouquet.

The same fruits hit the palate upfront. It is a lively wine, even though the fruit flavours are of dried fruit.Then there are earthy notes, mushroom, and vanilla from the oak barrels. The wine has good acidity with soft, fine grained tannins.

Overall, I have slightly mixed feelings about this wine. It is complex, and the fruit still shines through. When I say shines through, there is an oaky cover, which detracts from the otherwise interesting and still fresh flavours.

Score: 93/+ 

Valenciso Laderas De Cabama

Valenciso is one of my favorite Rioja producers. It is a small operation lead by the highly experienced Luis Valentin and Carmen Enciso. I like it, because all the wines have precision and finesse, something not often associated with Rioja, frankly.

The 2014 Valenciso Laderas de Cabama is a single vineyard wine from 35 year old Tempranillo vines. The soil is the typical clay and limestone mix of Rioja Alta. The wine has been matured in French oak, followed by some time in concrete tanks. It is somewhat of an entry level wine, but you would not know it.

This is a fragrant and aromatic wine, due to the maturing in concrete, I think. Red and black cherry fruit and sandalwood deliver a smooth and velvety mouthfeel. There is not as much intensity as in the other Valenciso red wines, instead you get freshness, purity and finesse. Chalky tannins lead to a medium to long finish. 

This wine is utterly delicious right now. Great value for money. Not easy to find, but I highly recommend it.

Score: 94/+++

Rusty Mutt Wines

Rusty Mutt is a very small producer from McLaren Vale. You may not be able to track down these wines, but they deliver good value.

The 2018 Joven Tempranillo delivers dark cherry flavours with good depth of fruit. The acidity brightens up the wine. It is not very complex, but ticks all Tempranillo boxes. This is a satisfying wine with a balanced finish to boot (92 points).

The 2018 Rocky Ox GSM is very much Grenache dominated. The different flavours of raspberry, blackberry and plum are well integrated. The mouthfeel is smooth, with earthy flavours rounding out the fruit. This is not a challenging wine, but it is pleasantly serious, balanced, and with good acidity. The finish is a little short (93 points).

The 2016 Original Shiraz is a bigger wine. However, the vibrant acidity brightens up the blackberry and black cherry fruit. There is some Shiraz sweetness on the mid-palate in this medium- to full-bodied wine. I enjoyed the refreshing finish (93 points).

The Rusty Mutt wines are not pretentious. They are well made balanced wines with good acidity. As a result, they are quite a satisfying drink.

Dominio De La Abadia

The 2016 Dominio de la Abadia is the cheapest wine I have ever reviewed; $9.99 at Aldi.

This medium-bodied Tempranillo is much better than your average quaffer, with its appealing red cherry, sour kirsch and blackcurrant fruit. There are some smoky undertones which give the wine some complexity. One of the strange things here is my recommendation to decant the wine for 2-3 hours. For a wine of $10? The wine improves to something very balanced, with the firm but fine grained tannins shining and its refreshing acidity.

If you need to be convinced to shop at Aldi, this wine might just do it.

Score: 89/+++  

Hunter Valley Shiraz Should Be Revisited

I was at the Wine Media Conference in the Hunter Valley for the last three days. This conference used to be called wine bloggers conference, and was held once a year in the US. This year it moved, for the first time, to Australia, the Hunter Valley, and with a new name.

Cooking up a Paella storm

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 It is a good time in the Hunter. Typically, a good vintage happens here every four years or so. Summer rains are a problem, as much as heat spikes. However, recently it has looked different. The 2014 vintage was great, and so are the 2017 to 2019 vintages.

This was on display during the Live Wine Social session, a kind of speed dating, where wineries move from table to table every five minutes and have the chance to present one of their top wines.

Some of the Shiraz were very big, as if to say, look we can do 15% alcohol, too. These included the 2018 Ivanhoe Pressings Shiraz, the only pressings wine in the Hunter, the 2017 Audrey Wilkinson The Lake Shiraz, the 2017 1813 The Governor Shiraz, and the 2009 Wombat Crossing Hermit’s Block Shiraz.

A very good wine was the 2017 First Creek Winemakers Reserve. This was a medium-bodied, soft Shiraz. Blackberry flavours and ripe tannins are well integrated. The wine has been matured in new and old 500l barrels, which is now the dominant storage barrel in the Hunter Valley(94 points).

The 2018 Briar Ridge Dairy Hill showed complex flavours of dark cherry, spices and mocca. This is an appealing fresh and soft wine (92 points).

Then there were a couple of different variety wines, which speak to the experimentation in the context of climate change. The 2018 De Iuliis Shiraz/Touriga, a 70/30 blend, is grown on heavy clay. The wine is spicy, earthy, but also lifted with medium length (92 points).

Glendore has made Tempranillo since 2004. The 2017 Glendore Tempranillo is red fruited, savoury, spicy, and an elegant wine. It is slightly short on the finish (93 points).

Valenciso

Valenciso is a small, 21 year old winery in Rioja Alta. It produces 150,000 bottles per year from 19 plots of mainly calcareous soil. It is now in its first year of organic production. Like with many vineyards in Rioja, some are bush vines, some are trellised vines. There does not seem a pronounced preference of one over the other.

Valenciso stands out, because everything about these wines is about finesse. The very smart and reflective owner Luis Valentin took me through the wines shown above, except the 10 year old wine was the 2007. The 2018 Rioja Blanco was the best white wine I tasted on this trip - and what a wine this is! 70% Viura, 30% Grenache Blanc and fermented in Russian oak, creates a delicate wine with excellent depth. The acidity is firm, but does not distract from the harmonious citrus flavours.

The Rosé is produced in the saignée method. Melon and strawberry flavours are built on a solid foundation of minerality. This is a really smart wine.

The flagship is the Rioja Reserva, based on Tempranillo. But in contrast to many producers, this is not about how long the wine has spent in barrel, but reflecting where the wine comes from. The primary fruit in the 2002 wine is almost gone.  Exotic spices now characterize the wine, and the acidity gives it a good structure. Maturing took place in light and medium toasted French oak. The 2012 shows great purity, with red and black cherry character. The focus here is on the fruit, and the finish is very long and balanced. 

The top wine is the 2007 '10 years postres'. This wine was aged 50/50 in Russian oak and concrete vats. The ageing is about adding to the texture of the wine, not to impart flavour. According to Luis, the concrete stabilizes the colour of the wine. The fruit here is absolutely delicious, backed by firm tannins.

Try to get your hands on some of these wines. They are a revelation. Rioja never tasted this good.      

Super Premium Spanish Wines, Including A $2500 Bottle

I recently attended a tasting of outstanding Spanish wines, where the emphasis was on 'delicacy', not something automatically associated with Spanish wines. I will report here on the Mencia wines, and the wines from Priorat and Rioja. The tasting was set up in such a way that a top-level blended wine was shown first, followed by some single vineyard wines, which the Spanish only recently started to emphasize.

Mencia is a grape variety grown in the northwestern part of Spain. It derives from Portuguese varieties. It has a reputation for light and diluted wines, but more serious wines have recently been made, with great success. The 2016 DJP 'Petalos' from Bierzo is one of the leading blends. It is very attractive wine, based on red cherry flavours with good intensity, great length and a dry finish (93 points). The two single vineyard wines were from Valdeorras. The 2015 Telmo Rodriguez 'As Caborcas' Vineyard wine is a bit lighter and delicate, with enticing sea-spray and spice flavours (93 points). The 2015 Telmo Rodriguez 'Falcoeira' Vineyard wine is more generous, with a bigger mouthfeel, sea-spray again on an elegant texture, and a balanced finish (94 points).

The blended Grenache from Priorat is the 2017 Blai Ferre Just 'Billo'. This is a medium-bodied wine, raspberry the dominant  up-front fruit flavour, but not overpowering, delivering an elegant and balanced structure with a dry finish (93 points). Next is the 2015 Blai Ferre Just 'Desnivell' Vineyard Grenache. Apart from raspberry fruit, there are also blue fruits here - a very drinkable wine (92 points).

The highlight of the tasting arguably were the two wines of Alvaro Palacios. The 2015 'Finca Dofi' shows quite a light colour, which translates onto the palate, but the intensity grows quickly, a bit like an iron fist in a velvet glove. The raspberry flavours are matched by savoury notes (94 points). The famous 2015 L'Ermita is quite a fascinating wine. The colour is light as well. This is a very smooth wine, dancing on your tongue. It has been described as liquid poetry. The subdued fruit lays bare the complexity of this wine, from orange rind to slate minerality. A little sweetness completes the satisfying mouthfeel (96 points). 

Is this wine worth $2500 per bottle? First, why does it cost so much? Yes, the yield is low, and the handling is very detailed and specific, but the main reason is that the fruit comes from a 1ha property. So scarcity drives the price. For a case of 12 bottles, you get a decent car. The wine is gone in 12 nights, but the car lasts years. Ok, I am comparing luxury with utility, but it is hard to make a rational case for it. As there is very little going around, the winery is not relying on rational decision-making; so it all works out.

The Rioja blend is the 2016 Alegre & Valganon Tempranillo-Garnacha. This is an odd blend. The wine has some depth, but is not complex; an easy drinking style with a little sweetness (90 points). The 2016 Alegre & Valganon 'La Calleja' Vineyard Tempranillo is a light to medium-bodied wine. The wine has good drive on the back of its red cherry fruit, but is a little harsh on the finish (90 points). A more interesting wine is the 2016 Alegre & Valganon 'Bahiarra' Field Blend. Field blends are all the rage in Portugal, but this is good, too. The wine has a darker colour, which translates into darker fruit, mainly black cherry, on the palate. The texture is very harmonious (93 points). 

The two best Rioja wines were the 2016 Sinodo Viticultors 'Los Tollos' Tempranillo, and the 2015 Telmo Rodriguez 'Tabuerniga' Tempranillo. The former impressed with its complex fruit flavours and superb elegance, before finishing light (95 points), the latter was a bigger wine with complex fruit and earthy flavours, wound together for a satisfying mouthfeel (94 points).