Rioja
Faustino Reserva V 2002
I’ve been clearing out a few notes over the weekend, not as successful as I’d hoped but anyway. The reserva and gran reserva level is where Faustino really delivers, and this shows what they can do even in a poor vintage. Very traditional, but also very good.
Faustino VII 2006
Work is extremely busy at the moment, hence the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks. I have a backlog of notes to get through, so I’ll post a chunk of them this weekend. On a better note, I’ve finally booked some flights to Spain for Feb next year. I’m planning to do a full week in Rioja with a few side trips here and there, plus some R & R in San Sebastian. Can’t wait.
Faustino V Rosado 2007
I think the slightly frosted bottle works best on this rosado, the wine is a brilliant colour and it’s good rose. 100% Tempranillo on skins for 18 hours. The numbers (i.e. Faustino V, VII and I) refer to the quality level as far as I can tell…
Faustino Crianza 2005
Faustino Crianza 2005Along with their traditional wines, Faustino have a range of ‘modern’ wines. The more wines I drink from Rioja, the more and more variations I see on what ‘modern’ means. In this case, it means 100% tempranillo, french and american oak, riper and more fruit forward wine. This is a cracking wine for the price, the updated label goes a long way too.
Faustino V Blanco 2007
Faustino is one of those wines that just about everyone remembers for the packaging. It is quite old school, kind of like wicker baskets on Chianti bottles, but I kind of like it in a strange way. I have 6 different wines from Faustino in the tasting pile, so get used to this bloke’s face.
Marques de Riscal 2006
Not to be out done, Marques de Riscal also makes a rosado from young tempranillo vines in Rioja. In fact they’ve been doing it for nearly 50 years. The resulting wine is fairly good, but I think they need to give away the visual references to the ol’ gold wire that you find around the bottles of the reserva.
Muga Rosado 2007
I dropped into Randall’s new store in Hawthorn last night for a look around. The offer of a glass of Krug or Pol Roger Winston Churchill 1998 made it a little hard to resist. It’s a great shop, well set out and with some very knowledgeable staff. The range of Spanish and Portuguese gear is outstanding. The thing I really like is that they have interesting stuff at just about every price point. Anyway, I got home about 8:30 and though a refreshing rosado and a good book was in order…
Artadi Orobio 2006
The wines of Artadi have finally arrived in Australia, it has been a good while coming and the first wine is this young Tempranillo. I expect this to be a real hit, it’s very tasty, its under a screwcap and costs about $27. It’s Tempranillo from the very high Rioja Alvesa region, 50% is given some french oak treatment for 6 months, while the rest stays in stainless steel tank. Be prepared for the prices of the top level 2006 wines from Artadi, they are not cheap!
Bodegas Beronia Tempranillo 2006
The designation on the bottle is Elaboracion Especial and it’s a tricked up straight Tempranillo from Rioja. Most of the wines made by Bodegas Beronia are fairly traditional, however this is modern in its approach, but using high toast American oak rather than the usual French.
Bodegas Beronia Crianza 2005
Anyway, here’s a tiddy crianza from the 2005 vintage in Rioja. It leans towards the traditional in style and shows plenty of refinement at 13% alcohol. Its a blend of 82% Tempranillo, 18% Garnarcha and 4% Mazuelo that lives in oak for 12 months.
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