Tinto y Blanco

A quick one today. A very handy wine from Ce Soir, I had the 2004 a while ago, a lovely wine. Just like the 2004, this is made from 80% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 10% Mazuelo, 12 months in, what I’d guess is older American wood.It’s a classic formula, so why change it? In fact, this perfectly shows some of the things that are going on in Rioja at the moment, it’s modern, yet traditional, well packaged and good value..the binary labels of modern or traditional thing just doesn’t apply in most cases.

One of the things I really enjoy with this wine is that is comes sprinting straight out of the blocks. Cherry and blueberry fruit, vanilla, thyme and cinnamon. It’s not rustic, but not totally refined either, fresh and hearty with plenty of texture and life. Sappy cherries and plums on the palate, I’m finding the 06s quite sappy and I like it a lot. Good finish of herbs and fruit.  90 Pts.

Source: Ce Soir Imports Price: $29 Closure: Conventional Cork

After a good dinner and a bottle of Muga Reserva 1990 a couple of years ago, an older friend told me his philosphy on cellaring wine: stock up on the classic wines that age well, the kind of stuff that goes well with food, and you’ll always be happy with your cellar. Sure, buy a bottle or two of  big, expensive wines in good vintages, but concentrate on the mid range wines from excellent producers. Stuff like classic Riojas, Chiantis, lesser growth Bordeaux, red and white village Burgundy, Chablis, Victorian and Hunter Valley Shiraz.  Sound advice.

Ever since, I’ve been buying two Rioja Reservas in every vintage. This is one of them, the other is Remelluri, which is almost a national treasure in the Basque area and is set to move towards an organic operation with Telmo Rodriguez moving back into the role of wine maker with his sister looking after the vineyards. Getting back to Muga Reserva, it’s a typical Rioja blend of 70% Tempranillo , 20%Garnacha, and 10% Mazuelo and Graciano aged in big old vats for 6 months, then into french and american oak for 24 months. While this clearly meets the Reserva requirements, in Spanish speaking countries it’s sold as a crianza…no idea why.

Classic nose of wild thyme and oragano, earthy cherry, mulberry and woody spices. Perfect balance between fruit and structure with minerally acid. Tannins that build and build to give a sense of contrast with the acid. The fruit doesn’t stick out, it’s savoury and fresh, it sits inline with the oak, tannin and acid. Purity, complexity and structure. The finish is long with the sense of clay, minerals and tangy red fruits. Just lovely drinking. Not as imediately rewarding as the 2004 now after a decant, but this is a long term wine, drink over the next 20 years. 93+ Pts.

Source: ?? Price: Around $60 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.bodegasmuga.com

This is another wine that shows the differences between the 2004 and 2005 vintages in Rioja. Both are great vintages in my book, but they are so for very different reasons. 2004 is a very long lived vintage, but it isn’t really giving a lot of joy at the moment. Its full of promises, but those bottles will have to survive the late night, drunken cellar raids and ‘I just want to see how it’s travelling’ trials. The 05 on the other hand is just a joy to smell and drink at the moment, but it has a long and full life ahead of it too.

Now I liked the minerally bite of the 04 version of this wine, but the lovely perfume coming off this 05 is magic stuff. Treading the fine line between traditional and modern Rioja, this is very much in the savoury camp, yet full of ripe fruit aromas, violets and roses, a little mocha coffee, and a handful wild herbs. Very appealing on the nose, and this continues in the mouth, firm but ripe tannins, a long lingering finish, and plenty of acid to keep the balance. Slightly sour on the palate, good notes of cherry, a little cola, sage and undergrowth and a little chocolate and spice. A pleasure to drink now, this will only improve over the next 3-5 years and drink for 10 years after that. Very compelling stuff. 93+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $60 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.remelluri.com

Other Vintages: 2003, 2004

The kitchen renos are almost done, as you can see in the photo the tiling still needs to be finished off. But at least I’m not cooking in the lounge room any more…The guys use a lot of sorting to get these wine in this shape, both on the vine and in the winery. 15 months in a mix of french and american oak, most of it older barrels up to 3 years old. I like this kind of forumla, you get the great fruit and the benifit of oak, but not a huge impact.

Now this is one smart little wine. It’s a more traditional version of rioja crianza, but it also made in a moden style using french oak and plenty of fruit flavour. Its a bit tight and young, which for a crianza at 5 years of age is very admirable, give it a quick shake in the decanter to free up the lovely rioja funky herbs. The nose kicks off with some  shaved wood notes, a little coffee and nutmeg, then into the cherry, blueberry fruit. All of that is followed up by a bit of wild herb and some liquorice with more air time. And that’s fairly much the recipe for this wine, the palate is similar but a bit heavier. Nice tannins lead to a bit of structure and edginess, but there is plenty of round, ripe fruit to make this a pleasure to drink. 90 Pts.

Source: Toro Wines Price: Around $35 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.eguren.com