Community Tasting Note

• PIntag wrote: 91 points

  August 16, 2023 - Ordered two bottles with dinner at Jaleo in Washington, D.C.
  Classic Rioja, starting with a burst of toasty American Oak on the nose and the attack on the palate. Mid-palate is more savory and herbal than fruity, and is deep and pleasing. A great match to the panoply of tapas dishes that we ordered. I really enjoyed these bottles though overt American Oak is not really in my normal wheelhouse - high quality Rioja is an exception. Should improve for many years as the oak integrates, though it is in a good drinking window right now, if you can appreciate the oak treatment.

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2 Comments

• viniferatu commented:

  9/12/23, 3:02 PM - I'm 99% certain Remelluri doesn't use any American oak these days, but they do apparently have quite a variety of oak vessels in the mix for this wine: French, Slovenian, Hungarian, large, medium, small, new and old... I'm under the impression that they don't want any American oak at all in the mix, but I guess I can't be 100% sure. This 2015 is, however, quite spicy on the nose and finish, and so much Rioja is strongly marked by American oak, so I can see where you're coming from...

• PIntag commented:

  9/14/23, 12:41 PM - I don't drink a lot of Rioja, but the oak character seemed pretty typical of Rioja Reserva that I've had in the past. I could certainly be wrong about the origin of the oak barrels on this wine, though.

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