Nose is plush dark cherries with confectioners chocolate; cherry wood; cherry leather and just cherry 🍒 Palate is a tad thin but it comes together nicely on the finish with a bit of bite and grip, medium acidity and medium tannins, slightly sour red cherries with a cool spicy overlay. Initially was too cold but with air and proper temp it’s good. These riojas don’t have that extra gear but a good QPR on a slightly older bottle. 91. I have another I’ll sit on till 2025 or later.
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Garnet in color, a wine with good structure, well-balanced, with sweet and ripe tannins on the palate. On the nose, notes of very ripe fruit, tobacco, and smoked wood predominate. This wine is really aging very well and has a lot of life ahead of it.
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Ruby in color and in flavor. Very fruit forward for it's age and pedigree but the tannic content suggests to me potential to improve. Others at the table dissented and felt it's less tannic and lacks the structure necessary to age much more. It does have chalky, earthy notes backing up the fruit that give it the ability to stand up to marinated meat, but will drink well on it's own.
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Not quite what we expected - drinks like a much younger wine. Pleasant now but may still mellow over the next several years.
Day 1: with Picadillo. A deep purple-red with (astonishingly) purple edges. Plum, cloves, some strong alcohol, and a scent like those valentine conversation hearts. Some oak. Sharp acidity. Not as mellow as would be expected for a ten year old wine.
Day 2: Salmon with Shishito peppers and tomato-basil mozzarella salad. Oak, nectarine, underripe peaches.
Day 3: Chicken pesto sandwiches. Slight oak, fruity with some port-like qualities. Moderate acidity.
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Pretty bouquet, with fruit, oak, and terroir in balance. Concentrated, pleasantly bracing, and notably young. While delicious now, a fuller, rounder wine will likely emerge in three to five years.
I loved this wine and was blown away by the extremely low price point. Dried red fruit on the nose with a lot of herbal notes showing too. The palate was a slow burn, started off soft but the tannin really creeps up on you. Hint of date and great dried cherry, and cranberry as well. Oak is well integrated at this point. Very clean for a Rioja, I sometimes like them a little dirtier, but this was amazing for $20ish dollars. Shows the age, but still life ahead of it. One of my favorite wines in that price point I have had in years.
Got this as a gift. Medium Ruby. Benefitted from decanting. Red fruit flavors with spice and soft tannins. Could definitely taste the oak, and the oak gave it an almost New American flavor profile that faded over time. On the lighter side, which I prefer. Overall a great value and very enjoyable.
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Good color, body and clarity. This is easy drinking, flavors - tart cherry that is light and little complexity. A good starting wine on a hotter day. Finish shows some age worthiness - not that flavors will change but will stay as is for a while .
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Immediate nose of plum and blueberry. On the palette the oak comes through smoothing out any sharp edges from the ripe fruit. Acidity here is totally in check with wood dominating and the whole thing maybe a little much. Feels slightly out of balance but enjoyable.
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Nose of cherry, blackberry, noticeable oak and a bit of alcohol. Dry palate with a bit of cherry, good balance and medium finish. Ok food wine with some density.
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Decanted 30+ minutes. Nose on opening was about big dark ripe fruits, but the intensity sort of faded after decanting but got more complex with tobacco, herbal aspects, a touch leather and vanilla. The palate had no hard edges, quite smooth, with dark red fruit, good acidity for tempranillo (also 10% Mazuelo), already soft tannins. Some spice. Overall, feels well balanced and well made. It’s a great vintage for Rioja. However, it still felt subdued and not at its max potential. It wasn’t singing from the bottle. Came off subtle. The whole flavor profile and balance were good, texture good, but it just lacked the vibrancy/potency I’d want. Maybe it’s at a dormant stage as bigger wines can be from age 6-10, or maybe it’s already fading some. It’s a wine from the airport, so who knows how it had been stored. It’s also just a 20 dollar wine in the US, so can’t necessarily expect as much despite it being a gran reserva and a 2010. About 7,000 cases made. https://winediplomats.com/
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Agree with all the comments. Very smooth, big, good concentration and nothing bad sticks out. Brought by Justin's friends Kyle and Steph camping at Twin Lakes CO.
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Spanish Reds [5-Riojas & 1-Castilla y León] (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): Typically, "90% Tempranillo from a selection of the best grapes coming from 30 year-old, low yielding Rioja Alta bush vines & 10% Mazuelo from our Viña Lanciano Vyd. Destemmed & fermented in s/s tanks at a controlled temp of 30 C, the wine was then macerated for 3 wks, over-pumping the must daily to favor higher extraction of colour & aromas. It was aged 24 mos in AM & FR oak barrels, ff'd by a min of 36 mos in the bottle."
N: Closed; Vanilla, smoke, with berries underneath
P: Med body; RNDISH entry with NICE, ALMOST swtish frt met by some astringent pucker which pretty much resolves by the LONG finish with a tangy/swtness to the dusty tannins. My VG+/EXC-, arguably the higher for QPR. 93 pts Suckling. [This vendor's $20.95 puts it in the top 1/2 of wine-searcher's postings.]
Note: Also tasted on 2/16/2019
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Deep purple-red with high optical density and reflectivity. Elegant and delicious nose, with dark fruits (plum, blackberry), cranberry, and vanilla-laced crushed nuts. Fresh acidity and full bodied on the palate with a youthful texture, with fine but open-grained tannins and a lot of structure. Very intense flavours on the attack, with tart dark berries and cranberry. The midpalate shows some vanilla and oak spices (not over done here, reasonably integrated, but still stands out) on top of the fruit, with takes on a bit thicker character. Toward the finish, things turn toward tart fruit and a bit of fresh tobacco, to finish with dry leather and cranberry skins. Overall, very intense flavours with lots of youthful exuberance and power. Not super complex, but definitely serious wine.
This is a very nice wine that should age for a time, and I think likely to improve. A nice, serious red at this point, it should really sing when some vinous character emerges- at this point, it is hiding, but you can seem to get some level of things. Really fresh and not overdone in any way, this is a very tasteful Rioja. Good value wine to cellar for a few more years!
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Spanish Reds (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): Typically, "90% Tempranillo from a selection of the best grapes coming from 30 year-old, low yielding Rioja Alta bush vines & 10% Mazuelo from our Viña Lanciano Vyd. Destemmed & fermented in s/s tanks at a controlled temp of 30 C, the wine was then macerated for 3 wks, over-pumping the must daily to favor higher extraction of colour & aromas. It was aged 24 mos in AM & FR oak barrels, ff'd by a min of 36 mos in the bottle."
N: ™VANILLA with cherries way underneath [TY, budosyu]
P: Med body; NICE, almost swtish frt met by some astringent pucker which DOES pretty much resolve by the LONG, balanced, pleasant finish with a tangy/swtness to the few dusty tannins. IF one can tolerate the relatively brief mid-P structure, this is drinkable now & over the next 3-4 yrs. My VG+. 93 pts Suckling. [This vendor's $20.95 puts it in the top 1/2 of wine-searcher's postings.]
™My ability to smell being impinged by sinus surgery
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Very bland initially but opened up after about two hours of decanting. Mild tannins resulting in a smooth drink with notes of berries, chocolate, and a touch of oak. Great value, would certainly stock up on these.
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Deep, dark, purplish red with high optical density and low reflectivity. The nose is light, perhaps a bit tight, but appealing. Aromaticity, dark fruits, and dusty earth, with dark cherry, plum, and black raspberry. The palate is full bodied and high in density, with fresh acidity. Polished texture, with integrated tannins. Flavours on the attack of rich dusty plum fruit and dark cherry, and subtle earthy vegetal notes. The midpalate stays rich and consistent, with dark fruits and spices. Intensifies toward a finish of dark fruit and light tobacco smoke (clean and refined). Really blooms with some air, bringing out some floral lift.
Overall, a really nice wine here. Elegant and tastefully oaked, this has a nice drinkable character. Perhaps not the most complex wine, but has enough going on to provide some interest. Juicy and elegant before power and thickness. Good, but not great or particularly memorable. Definitely a nice one for a crowd at the moment, as it drinking very nicely.
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Dark colour with slight bricking at the edge. Nose shows a lot of oak, both American and French. Palate is balanced, with extremely smooth tannins. However, this wine hasn’t really evolved yet, and it really needs 5-7 years for all the components to integrate and for the bouquet to develop. It can certainly be consumed now with some red meat, but to my taste it still has a way to go.
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Deep purple color. Smells of tart black cherries and currants, tangy plums (just smelling it makes my mouth water), with mint, tobacco, coffee, loamy soil and graphite notes. Fresh acidity frames the wine nicely, solidly-gripping tannins mix with tart black cherries and currants, backed up with violets, black pepper, mint, black tea, coffee, lots of complex elements. Underlying earthy, mineral notes, this is a vibrant and fresh wine but also structured and ageworthy. Tempranillo from Rioja Alta and 10% Mazuelo.
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Excellent Rioja! This was a pop and pour and no additional decanting was required, the nose was of dark red fruits and a little smoky. Notes of cherry, Green pepper, eucalyptus, leather, and herbs filled the palate, the tannins were soft and subtle. This is well priced and will just improve by a point or so over the next 5-7 years. Well balanced.
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Black pepper, black raspberries, roses, and tobacco on the nose. Honest pure fruit on the pallet, with excellent spread subtle on the palate and a lovely acid frame.
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At our cabin. P&P. I very much agree with forceberry’s detailed description. The wine was medium to dark ruby in colour and offered red fruit, red cherry, blackberry, mocha, lots of coffee and oak spice, sweet vanilla and a mild herbal/liquorice component on the nose and palate, with lively acidity and good length. The medium-bodied, American oak-driven wine developed a certain elegance with aeration and was lovely, round, fruity and quite delicious on day two. Good value. I would love to try it again in 10 to 15 years. 89+ for now.
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Made from Tempranillo (90%) sourced from different plots in La Rioja Alta and from Mazuelo (10%) sourced from the Viña Lanciano vineyard located in La Rioja Alta. Fermented and macerated for 3 weeks in stainless steel, aged for 2 years in American and French oak barrels and for another 3 years in bottles before release. 13,5% alcohol, 5,2 g/l acidity. Tasted blind in VV.
Almost completely opaque inky black color with a subtle reddish hue. Very intense, complex and somewhat woody nose with aromas of ripe black cherries, some chocolatey oak tones, a little bit of developed and slightly wizened dark fruits, light notes of savory wood spice, a hint of raisin and a touch of vanilla. The wine feels moderately full-bodied, ripe and chewy on the palate, yet not excessively big nor too extracted. There are quite bold flavors of ripe blackcurrants, plummy fruits, some milk chocolate, a little bit of sour cherries, light vanilla tones, a hint of strawberries and a touch of tobacco. Overall the wine feels rather structured with its high acidity and quite ample and firm tannins that both contribute to the firm backbone. The finish is moderately grippy and quite powerful with flavors of toasty oak spice, some blackcurrant-driven dark fruits, a little bit of developed raisiny fruit, a hint of sweet mocha and a touch of tannins.
An impressively big, ripe and structured, yet also very fine-tuned Rioja Gran Reserva with enjoyable depth and power. Overall the wine feels quite sophisticated and not too extracted, but the oak use feels a bit heavy-handed here, lending a rather anonymizing chocolate sheen to the flavors. Overall this is a quite good and enjoyable wine, but I would've enjoyed it much more, were it less noticeably oaky. Perhaps some cellaring (something like 10 years) might help the wood integrate better with the wine? At least it feels like it is built for it. A bit pricey at 22,90€, but not excessively so.
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Gut gemacht, klassisches Profil mit feiner Säure und einem eher zarten Tanningerüst. Ganz uberzeugen kann er mich nicht aber ich habe den Eindruck das ist in diesem Fall einfach eine Frage des Subjektiven Geschmacks. Er ist wenig markant. Es würde mich reizen ihn mal ab 2020 zu probieren.
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Medium-high intensity nose has dried floral, dried cherry, and baking spice notes. The full-bodied palate has nice aroma replays plus some blackberry nuances, supported by very good acidity. Structured tannins are well-integrated. Excellent finish length. Will age 8+ years.
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Delicious. The figgiest wine I've ever tasted. Medium-bodied, medium-acid, medium tannins. Round and ripe, with just enough dryness to balance the fruit. Probably great for another several years, but likely near it's peak.
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6/18/2023 - FabesMTL Likes this wine: 91 Points
Nose is plush dark cherries with confectioners chocolate; cherry wood; cherry leather and just cherry 🍒
Palate is a tad thin but it comes together nicely on the finish with a bit of bite and grip, medium acidity and medium tannins, slightly sour red cherries with a cool spicy overlay. Initially was too cold but with air and proper temp it’s good. These riojas don’t have that extra gear but a good QPR on a slightly older bottle. 91. I have another I’ll sit on till 2025 or later.
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5/13/2023 - JC1000 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Garnet in color, a wine with good structure, well-balanced, with sweet and ripe tannins on the palate. On the nose, notes of very ripe fruit, tobacco, and smoked wood predominate. This wine is really aging very well and has a lot of life ahead of it.
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1/8/2022 - c-check Likes this wine: 91 Points
Ruby in color and in flavor. Very fruit forward for it's age and pedigree but the tannic content suggests to me potential to improve. Others at the table dissented and felt it's less tannic and lacks the structure necessary to age much more. It does have chalky, earthy notes backing up the fruit that give it the ability to stand up to marinated meat, but will drink well on it's own.
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8/18/2020 - jonboy74 Does not like this wine: 80 Points
Too ripe of fruit, not a fan. Much better rioja out there.
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8/1/2020 - Rhuby Likes this wine: 87 Points
Not quite what we expected - drinks like a much younger wine. Pleasant now but may still mellow over the next several years.
Day 1: with Picadillo. A deep purple-red with (astonishingly) purple edges. Plum, cloves, some strong alcohol, and a scent like those valentine conversation hearts. Some oak. Sharp acidity. Not as mellow as would be expected for a ten year old wine.
Day 2: Salmon with Shishito peppers and tomato-basil mozzarella salad. Oak, nectarine, underripe peaches.
Day 3: Chicken pesto sandwiches. Slight oak, fruity with some port-like qualities. Moderate acidity.
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6/13/2020 - Motz wrote: 91 Points
Pretty bouquet, with fruit, oak, and terroir in balance. Concentrated, pleasantly bracing, and notably young. While delicious now, a fuller, rounder wine will likely emerge in three to five years.
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6/3/2020 - kdubler wrote:
I loved this wine and was blown away by the extremely low price point. Dried red fruit on the nose with a lot of herbal notes showing too. The palate was a slow burn, started off soft but the tannin really creeps up on you. Hint of date and great dried cherry, and cranberry as well. Oak is well integrated at this point. Very clean for a Rioja, I sometimes like them a little dirtier, but this was amazing for $20ish dollars. Shows the age, but still life ahead of it. One of my favorite wines in that price point I have had in years.
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5/17/2020 - Cory wrote: 90 Points
Got this as a gift. Medium Ruby. Benefitted from decanting. Red fruit flavors with spice and soft tannins. Could definitely taste the oak, and the oak gave it an almost New American flavor profile that faded over time. On the lighter side, which I prefer. Overall a great value and very enjoyable.
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4/28/2020 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 91 Points
Nice balance of fruit and oak. It went real fast so it had to be good.
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3/28/2020 - bryon m wrote: 89 Points
Good color, body and clarity. This is easy drinking, flavors - tart cherry that is light and little complexity. A good starting wine on a hotter day. Finish shows some age worthiness - not that flavors will change but will stay as is for a while .
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3/10/2020 - WAWINEFAN wrote: 90 Points
A very nice wine! Full bodied, a bit acidic and a nice long finish
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2/24/2020 - ddsolomon2000 wrote: 91 Points
A little thin but well balanced between fruit and earth.. American oak flavors come thru.
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2/21/2020 - Björn Sesoselak wrote: 90 Points
Röd, granat. Svampkällare, körsbär, vanilj och ek. Röda bär och kryddor. Färdigt att dricka.
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12/29/2019 - tomoem wrote: 89 Points
Immediate nose of plum and blueberry. On the palette the oak comes through smoothing out any sharp edges from the ripe fruit. Acidity here is totally in check with wood dominating and the whole thing maybe a little much. Feels slightly out of balance but enjoyable.
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12/8/2019 - Pjzlotnik Likes this wine: 90 Points
abundant fruit did well over 3 night with vacu vin
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11/11/2019 - Richard P Howden wrote: 88 Points
Nose of cherry, blackberry, noticeable oak and a bit of alcohol. Dry palate with a bit of cherry, good balance and medium finish. Ok food wine with some density.
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10/15/2019 - Zweder wrote: 90 Points
Monthly Tuesday group "The Dead Sparrow" #042: Spain Tempranillo around 2011 (By AG): In the bouquet dark berries, chocolate and some almonds. On the palate dark and red berries, sweet spices, chocolate, elegant and juicy acidity and beautifully dosed oak.
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9/28/2019 - ziavino wrote: 88 Points
Red and blue fruits, oak, and light spice. Lighter than I'd expected. Pleasant, if not fairly simple.
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9/19/2019 - bourgogre Likes this wine:
Foncé. Rubis. Opaque.
Beau tempranillo intense.
Fruit confit.
Nettement plus fumé que la première fiole.
On peut lui donner encore quelques années.
Charpente solide.
(**1/2+)
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9/1/2019 - Wine Diplomats wrote: 90 Points
Decanted 30+ minutes. Nose on opening was about big dark ripe fruits, but the intensity sort of faded after decanting but got more complex with tobacco, herbal aspects, a touch leather and vanilla. The palate had no hard edges, quite smooth, with dark red fruit, good acidity for tempranillo (also 10% Mazuelo), already soft tannins. Some spice. Overall, feels well balanced and well made. It’s a great vintage for Rioja. However, it still felt subdued and not at its max potential. It wasn’t singing from the bottle. Came off subtle. The whole flavor profile and balance were good, texture good, but it just lacked the vibrancy/potency I’d want. Maybe it’s at a dormant stage as bigger wines can be from age 6-10, or maybe it’s already fading some. It’s a wine from the airport, so who knows how it had been stored. It’s also just a 20 dollar wine in the US, so can’t necessarily expect as much despite it being a gran reserva and a 2010. About 7,000 cases made.
https://winediplomats.com/
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9/1/2019 - bourgogre Likes this wine:
Violacé. Foncé.
L'étiquette mentionne le Tempranillo, le Graciano et Mazuelo dans l'assemblage.
Le fruit arbore une belle intensité et l'élevage est conséquent.
Accent terrien léger.
La puissance est très mesurée. Belle longueur.
Vraiment, ce vin est superbement proportionné.
(***)
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7/13/2019 - sduraybito wrote: 90 Points
Agree with all the comments. Very smooth, big, good concentration and nothing bad sticks out. Brought by Justin's friends Kyle and Steph camping at Twin Lakes CO.
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6/15/2019 - Todd French wrote:
Excellent
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5/4/2019 - srh Likes this wine:
Spanish Reds [5-Riojas & 1-Castilla y León] (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): Typically, "90% Tempranillo from a selection of the best grapes coming from 30 year-old, low yielding Rioja Alta bush vines & 10% Mazuelo from our Viña Lanciano Vyd. Destemmed & fermented in s/s tanks at a controlled temp of 30 C, the wine was then macerated for 3 wks, over-pumping the must daily to favor higher extraction of colour & aromas. It was aged 24 mos in AM & FR oak barrels, ff'd by a min of 36 mos in the bottle."
N: Closed; Vanilla, smoke, with berries underneath
P: Med body; RNDISH entry with NICE, ALMOST swtish frt met by some astringent pucker which pretty much resolves by the LONG finish with a tangy/swtness to the dusty tannins. My VG+/EXC-, arguably the higher for QPR. 93 pts Suckling. [This vendor's $20.95 puts it in the top 1/2 of wine-searcher's postings.]
Note: Also tasted on 2/16/2019
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4/15/2019 - Shrages wrote: 90 Points
Very vinous. Fruit and earth. Nicely balanced. Peak in 1-4 years
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4/3/2019 - Marcosuru wrote: 91 Points
An extra point for QPR.
Fantastic classic Rioja gran reserva, very easy to drink.
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3/28/2019 - ajbergren wrote: 88 Points
Deep purple-red with high optical density and reflectivity. Elegant and delicious nose, with dark fruits (plum, blackberry), cranberry, and vanilla-laced crushed nuts. Fresh acidity and full bodied on the palate with a youthful texture, with fine but open-grained tannins and a lot of structure. Very intense flavours on the attack, with tart dark berries and cranberry. The midpalate shows some vanilla and oak spices (not over done here, reasonably integrated, but still stands out) on top of the fruit, with takes on a bit thicker character. Toward the finish, things turn toward tart fruit and a bit of fresh tobacco, to finish with dry leather and cranberry skins. Overall, very intense flavours with lots of youthful exuberance and power. Not super complex, but definitely serious wine.
This is a very nice wine that should age for a time, and I think likely to improve. A nice, serious red at this point, it should really sing when some vinous character emerges- at this point, it is hiding, but you can seem to get some level of things. Really fresh and not overdone in any way, this is a very tasteful Rioja. Good value wine to cellar for a few more years!
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3/7/2019 - jocelyng Likes this wine: 91 Points
Red plum, blueberry then ripe mirabelle plum mixed with some walnut. The finish is a little less interesting: oak dominating the fruits.
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2/16/2019 - srh Likes this wine:
Spanish Reds (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): Typically, "90% Tempranillo from a selection of the best grapes coming from 30 year-old, low yielding Rioja Alta bush vines & 10% Mazuelo from our Viña Lanciano Vyd. Destemmed & fermented in s/s tanks at a controlled temp of 30 C, the wine was then macerated for 3 wks, over-pumping the must daily to favor higher extraction of colour & aromas. It was aged 24 mos in AM & FR oak barrels, ff'd by a min of 36 mos in the bottle."
N: ™VANILLA with cherries way underneath [TY, budosyu]
P: Med body; NICE, almost swtish frt met by some astringent pucker which DOES pretty much resolve by the LONG, balanced, pleasant finish with a tangy/swtness to the few dusty tannins. IF one can tolerate the relatively brief mid-P structure, this is drinkable now & over the next 3-4 yrs. My VG+. 93 pts Suckling. [This vendor's $20.95 puts it in the top 1/2 of wine-searcher's postings.]
™My ability to smell being impinged by sinus surgery
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1/27/2019 - shelman88 Likes this wine: 88 Points
Very bland initially but opened up after about two hours of decanting. Mild tannins resulting in a smooth drink with notes of berries, chocolate, and a touch of oak. Great value, would certainly stock up on these.
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12/16/2018 - ajbergren wrote: 87 Points
Deep, dark, purplish red with high optical density and low reflectivity. The nose is light, perhaps a bit tight, but appealing. Aromaticity, dark fruits, and dusty earth, with dark cherry, plum, and black raspberry. The palate is full bodied and high in density, with fresh acidity. Polished texture, with integrated tannins. Flavours on the attack of rich dusty plum fruit and dark cherry, and subtle earthy vegetal notes. The midpalate stays rich and consistent, with dark fruits and spices. Intensifies toward a finish of dark fruit and light tobacco smoke (clean and refined). Really blooms with some air, bringing out some floral lift.
Overall, a really nice wine here. Elegant and tastefully oaked, this has a nice drinkable character. Perhaps not the most complex wine, but has enough going on to provide some interest. Juicy and elegant before power and thickness. Good, but not great or particularly memorable. Definitely a nice one for a crowd at the moment, as it drinking very nicely.
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11/13/2018 - kalissa Likes this wine: 90 Points
Dark colour with slight bricking at the edge. Nose shows a lot of oak, both American and French. Palate is balanced, with extremely smooth tannins. However, this wine hasn’t really evolved yet, and it really needs 5-7 years for all the components to integrate and for the bouquet to develop. It can certainly be consumed now with some red meat, but to my taste it still has a way to go.
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10/17/2018 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 89 Points
Deep purple color. Smells of tart black cherries and currants, tangy plums (just smelling it makes my mouth water), with mint, tobacco, coffee, loamy soil and graphite notes. Fresh acidity frames the wine nicely, solidly-gripping tannins mix with tart black cherries and currants, backed up with violets, black pepper, mint, black tea, coffee, lots of complex elements. Underlying earthy, mineral notes, this is a vibrant and fresh wine but also structured and ageworthy. Tempranillo from Rioja Alta and 10% Mazuelo.
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10/14/2018 - Alexander Smith Likes this wine: 92 Points
Excellent Rioja! This was a pop and pour and no additional decanting was required, the nose was of dark red fruits and a little smoky. Notes of cherry, Green pepper, eucalyptus, leather, and herbs filled the palate, the tannins were soft and subtle. This is well priced and will just improve by a point or so over the next 5-7 years. Well balanced.
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10/2/2018 - Double-A Likes this wine: 90 Points
Toast, olive, black cherry and currant nose. Ripe and smoky palate with good fruit and structure. Mineral and toast finish.
4/5
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9/11/2018 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 91 Points
Black pepper, black raspberries, roses, and tobacco on the nose. Honest pure fruit on the pallet, with excellent spread subtle on the palate and a lovely acid frame.
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8/11/2018 - Julian Marshall Likes this wine: 88 Points
Good value with plenty of rich fruit, just lacking in depth and intensity to reach a better level. Probably good for another five years.
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7/21/2018 - PSPatrick wrote: 89 Points
At our cabin. P&P. I very much agree with forceberry’s detailed description. The wine was medium to dark ruby in colour and offered red fruit, red cherry, blackberry, mocha, lots of coffee and oak spice, sweet vanilla and a mild herbal/liquorice component on the nose and palate, with lively acidity and good length. The medium-bodied, American oak-driven wine developed a certain elegance with aeration and was lovely, round, fruity and quite delicious on day two. Good value. I would love to try it again in 10 to 15 years. 89+ for now.
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2/17/2018 - forceberry wrote: 88 Points
Made from Tempranillo (90%) sourced from different plots in La Rioja Alta and from Mazuelo (10%) sourced from the Viña Lanciano vineyard located in La Rioja Alta. Fermented and macerated for 3 weeks in stainless steel, aged for 2 years in American and French oak barrels and for another 3 years in bottles before release. 13,5% alcohol, 5,2 g/l acidity. Tasted blind in VV.
Almost completely opaque inky black color with a subtle reddish hue. Very intense, complex and somewhat woody nose with aromas of ripe black cherries, some chocolatey oak tones, a little bit of developed and slightly wizened dark fruits, light notes of savory wood spice, a hint of raisin and a touch of vanilla. The wine feels moderately full-bodied, ripe and chewy on the palate, yet not excessively big nor too extracted. There are quite bold flavors of ripe blackcurrants, plummy fruits, some milk chocolate, a little bit of sour cherries, light vanilla tones, a hint of strawberries and a touch of tobacco. Overall the wine feels rather structured with its high acidity and quite ample and firm tannins that both contribute to the firm backbone. The finish is moderately grippy and quite powerful with flavors of toasty oak spice, some blackcurrant-driven dark fruits, a little bit of developed raisiny fruit, a hint of sweet mocha and a touch of tannins.
An impressively big, ripe and structured, yet also very fine-tuned Rioja Gran Reserva with enjoyable depth and power. Overall the wine feels quite sophisticated and not too extracted, but the oak use feels a bit heavy-handed here, lending a rather anonymizing chocolate sheen to the flavors. Overall this is a quite good and enjoyable wine, but I would've enjoyed it much more, were it less noticeably oaky. Perhaps some cellaring (something like 10 years) might help the wood integrate better with the wine? At least it feels like it is built for it. A bit pricey at 22,90€, but not excessively so.
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10/29/2017 - Christian von Dresky wrote: 88 Points
Gut gemacht, klassisches Profil mit feiner Säure und einem eher zarten Tanningerüst. Ganz uberzeugen kann er mich nicht aber ich habe den Eindruck das ist in diesem Fall einfach eine Frage des Subjektiven Geschmacks. Er ist wenig markant. Es würde mich reizen ihn mal ab 2020 zu probieren.
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9/26/2017 - cono_sur Likes this wine: 91 Points
Medium-high intensity nose has dried floral, dried cherry, and baking spice notes. The full-bodied palate has nice aroma replays plus some blackberry nuances, supported by very good acidity. Structured tannins are well-integrated. Excellent finish length. Will age 8+ years.
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7/1/2017 - vinenvrac wrote: 91 Points
Delicious. The figgiest wine I've ever tasted. Medium-bodied, medium-acid, medium tannins. Round and ripe, with just enough dryness to balance the fruit. Probably great for another several years, but likely near it's peak.
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