Rioja

I have little experience with Rioja and this tasting provided the opportunity to taste some wines and get an introductory feel for the region.

• 2010 Conde de Hervias Rioja Mencos Blanco 88 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  ($12) Interesting and unusual fragrant nose which carried through to the palate. Good balancing acidity. Nice change of pace white.

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• 2012 Bodegas Muga Rioja Rosado 89 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  ($12) Mineral driven and very dry but quite flavorful and well balanced. A winner at the price point.

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• 2009 Bodegas y Viñedos Labastida Rioja Castillo Labastida Crianza 85 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  ($16) Very smoky, BBQ sauce on the nose. On the palate, very dry with dominating oak. Good acidic balance, but the oak is just too much for my palate.

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• 2009 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Crianza 87 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  ($18) Kind of a berry licqueur thing going on with the nose. On the palate, burst of juicy fruit but very tannic as well with some good acidity.

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• 2008 Bodegas Luberri Rioja Biga Crianza 87 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  ($20) Fragrant and tart blueberry nose. Palate shows tart berry, plenty of oak, with abundant fine tannins. Mid-palate fades quickly, but the wine has good acidic balance.

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• 2008 Bodegas Bagordi Rioja Crianza 86 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  ($20) Sweet oaky nose. Ripe and oaky new world style but also shows some good acidity to keep it from being too heavy.

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• 2006 Zuazo Gaston Rioja Reserva 83 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  ($25) Ripe and powerful kind of cherry liqueur nose. On the palate, bubble gum, tart cherry, oaky with simple flavors. New world style fruit and oak bomb.

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• 2006 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva de Familia 80 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  ($27) Heavy sweet nose. On the palate, heavy, oxidative, plenty of oak influence. Not particularly enjoyable.

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• 2009 La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri Rioja Reserva 88 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  ($40) Heavy nose with balsamic nose, like a fortified wine. Fortunately, the palate was a bit lighter than the nose would indicate with good acidic balance and some prominent tannins.

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• 2006 Bodegas y Viñedos del Contino Rioja Contino Reserva 85 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  ($50) Interesting balsamic, herbal, and spicy nose. Palate shows plenty of caramel and vanilla with decent acidity but lacking some depth. Really oak-driven flavor profile.

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• 2005 La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri Rioja Gran Reserva 89 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  ($90) Big fruit, expansive nose. On the palate, new world-ish ripe fruit, not as oak driven as the other wines in this tasting but made in an "international" style. Probably the most enjoyable wine of the tasting for me, but still not a style I particularly enjoy and certainly not a buyer at this price point.

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• 1995 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Bosconia 88 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  ($100) Earthy nose, with a very interesting celery note. On the palate, light and elegant beam of simple leather and earth fruit, but really lacking depth and seemingly a bit simple. Well balanced and extremely long finish, but aged oaky wine still does not appeal that much to me. Underwhelmed to say the least.

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In general, I was left scratching my head with the region. Do people consider really consider Rioja reds as world-class that compare with the best of Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Piemonte? I found the overwhelming oak-driven nature of these wines to be a complete turn-off, though, admittedly, I am more oak-averse than most people. I knew going in that barrel aging was a key component to the reds of Rioja, but I wasn't prepared to have my palate assaulted by all of the oak that was present in most of these wines. For this reason, I don't see myself pursuing reds of this region at this time. On the other hand, to their credit, every single wine in the tasting exhibited very good acidic balance which I greatly appreciated. The lone white of the tasting was interesting and enjoyable and the Muga Rosada was quite nice and a real bargain.