I bought a case of half bottles of 2003 Roda thinking that I’d stick them away somewhere dark and cool for 5 year then pull them out for drinking on quiet nights at home. Good idea, not so good in reality though. They never made it out of the wine fridge at home into off site storage, so the odd bottle comes out now and then when I feel like a glass and a half of something good. There are 7 bottles left a year later.

This is a new section to plunk down some quick notes on wines that I pull out with a bit of age on them. Most of the time these won’t be real tasting note with a score, just a quick update.

For all the concerns over the hot vintage, I think this is a really great wine. It’s showing great freshness now and 30 minutes in a decanter brings out the lovely red fruits, there are no roasted notes here. It was already complex when I reviewed it after release, but I think it’s moved on from a year ago and the wood is very well integrated. The tannins are soft and soothing, the finish very long. A year in the cellar has done it the world of good. I’ll try and leave it a bit longer before I open the next one…maybe my stash will make it to 3 years yet. I notice that Boccaccio Cellars still have some of these…

Source: The Spanish Acquisition RRP: $40 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.roda.es