Telmo Rodriguez LZ 2006
I don't think I'll ever get tired of the fresh, juicy tempranillo joven wines. Perfect for casual drinking with earthy food at this time of year. The three joven wines put out by Telmo Rodriguez are a good chance to look at different expressions of Tempranillo from the premier regions of northern Spain. Same winemaker, similar production methods but different clones, climates and soil types. Drinking all three in one sitting is a very educational experience, if a touch too boozy for a school night.
LZ is the joven wine from Rioja. Its a wine that lives by a "straight edge" philosophy: no oak, no fancy wine making tricks just the raw flavours of tempranillo from Rioja. Yes, I have been watching too many music documentaries…
Classic bright red cherry flavours with sarsaparilla, earth and cinnamon on the nose. A bit of musk stick floats in and out as the wine builds with air. The tannins are soft and abundant and there is plenty of acid to clean up the mouth. The palate fairly much mirrors the nose, the fruit is juicy and fresh with good concentration. Very much on up to its usual standard and surprisingly a bit better than the 05. 89 Pts.
Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $22 Closure: Conventional Cork
Very educating indeed. I just keep wondering how concentrated Rodriguez LZ, Gazur and Dehesa Gago are for joven wines. I even read a comment on a website saying how oak is giving such a good structure to these wines! Ahumm, anyway, the clear expression of region is definitely shining through and that is what these wines aim at. I haven’t tried any of the 2006 yet but I’m looking forward to.
Maurice
Bummer. I paid $25 for a bottle of this last night attempting to look for something cheaper fo Wine Blogging Wednesday.
$3 isn’t a big loss. I tend to quote the best price I can find too… what did you think of it.
I thought is was quite soft for a Rioja lacking that leathery punch. I liked it though. This is what I wrote in my notes (I’ve been watching Oz and James): “The first sniff brings sour cherries and spice and herbs and inevitably some hard edges and a chlorine type smell. Marzipan smell finishing on the disinfectant edge of a municipal toilet block.” That last bit must be the earth and musk.
Ed, that’s a bit of a harsh note, IMHO. I’d also suggest that if you are looking at joven tempranillo, whether from Rioja, Ribera, or elsewhere, that leathery characters are something you are not that likely to find. Usually, leather in Riojan reds comes from a combination of oak aging, bottle age, some blending decisions (such as balance between tempranillo, mazuelo, garnacha etc) and oxidative handling. The reason I mention the varietal blending issue is that some of the blending grapes will react differently to the winemaking decisions involved, such as a Riojan tempranillo with a higher blended % of garnacha from Rioja’s lowlands can end up looking more leathery in part due to the tendency of some grenache to oxidise in the winery, as well as drop colour.
In my case, I try and judge joven reds as a separate class from oaked reds (whether crianza, reserva or gran reserva).
The 2008 seems a bit heavier than some years of LZ. And smokey too – not sure where that’s coming from. Good dollop of cherry in the middle palate. Finishes with some dry tannins but goes well with food. Nice.
I’ve noticed that smoke in it too…I’ll have to see if there were any fires in the region in 2008…maybe smokey reduction?