Rioja
Beronia Mazuelo Reserva 2004
I’ve had a bit of holiday from wine over the past coule of week since Easter, interrupted a quick trip up to Rutherglen to look at some of Australia’s best fortified wines. Stanton & Killeen have done some amazing stuff with their vintage port (or whatever it’s called these days), they must have the oldest [...]
Tasting at Artadi
It looks just like most other vineyards around Laguardia in Rioja Alvesa, the only give away that this is the famed El Pison vineyard is the gate. If you’ve been lucky enough to have a bottle (or even see a bottle in a shop) you would have noticed that it has a little drawing of this gate on the front label. But as Artadi’s Rioja wines are only just now coming on to the Australian market, how would most of us know?
White Rioja
Just before I left for Spain, I had this crazy idea of searching out the best white Rioja I could find. To be honest, I found loads of white wine but its very difficult to choose a single wine as the best, so I’ve gone with three. These are three very different wines, and everything about them is different: the way they are made, the grape varieties used, how they are aged, and when they are drunk. I knew that two of these would be high on my list, but the third was a real surprise.
Tasting at Roda
Not much has really changed in the bodega at Roda, so we did a quick tour around the bodega and followed by a longer tasting. Strangely we could not walk across the main walk way as the Consejo Regulador had decided that the flooring material was not up to code and it had it be replaced. The guy doing the work had an impossibly small sander to do the 60 square meter walk way. Very odd, but it wasn’t the only weird activity we heard about from the guys who regulate the wine trade in Rioja.
Remelluri Reserva 2003
Remelluri is quite the name in Rioja. These guy lean towards the traditional side of things, but are a bit different as they are one of the few producing single estate wines (the term finca is usually used to describe this), although this is more common these days. It’s located up quite high in Rioja Alvesa, the vineyard is terraced into three areas and is one of coolest vineyards around. It used to be a neglected old monastery until it was bought and rejuvenated by one Jamie Rodriguez Salis in the 60s. That’s right, Telmo’s dad.
Artadi Vinas de Gain 2006
Artardi is one of those producers that people get really excited about. I’m always getting questions like: who’s importing Artadi? When will it be in? Is it really that good? These should all really go to the Spanish Acquisition (the importer), but the good news is that you can now buy the joven (Orobio) and Vinas de Gain now, the big guns are coming shortly (and they are not priced for those of us with light wallets!). I think this wine show great value in the current wine market and should be considered top flight Rioja regardless of what it’s big brothers can do.
Ramon Bilbao Viura 2007
One of the things I want to get my head around when I’m in Rioja next month is what is going on with white Rioja.There are a couple of modern versions, like this or Placet from Palacios Remondo, that really rock my boat. Plus the traditional stuff like Lopez de Heredia’s Reservas and Gran Reservas, that are like nothing else on earth. Then there is Remulleri Blanco (It is a tasty blend of Vigonier, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Moscatel, Marsanne and Roussane) which is something else altogether. I’m heading to all these places, so I should be able to get a good view of what is going on and where white Rioja is heading. Either that or I just get to drink some nice wines with friendly people.
Faustino I Gran Reserva 1996
I’ve been waiting for a nice lamb dinner to drink this, it works so well with slow cooked lamb. This thing has just about every marketing/packaging trick known to man (or Riojan man anyway); a marble tinted bottle, gold wire, an iconic label with a huge painting of some dude with a hat. The wine is very good, traditional gran reserva with some very good fruit. Make sure you decant this puppy, Gran Reservas need at least 30 minutes of air time to really show their stuff.
Marques de Riscal Reserva 2004
Anthony at Boccaccio Cellars has been raving about this, so I thought I’d better give it a run. The comeback vintage of 2001 was a big hit, and the 2004 is on a similar level. So, I line up the 2004 and 2001, along with the 2004 Roda Reserva after Griff’s call that this is a ‘better’ wine.
From the Cellar: Marques de Riscal Reserva 2001
I’ve had a couple of emails and comments asking how this is traveling, so I cracked one open with the 2004 to see what is happening in the bottle. Very prosmising at the moment, with more to come in a couple of years. If I hadn’t seen these side by side, I would have never noticed the new label on the 04.
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