Ancient Rioja (1956 to 1976)

Once again, a magnificent event courtesy of The Rare Wine Company with old bottles in impeccable condition. This gave us a unique chance to taste wines across vintages and production hierarchy (Crianza to Gran Reserva level). For me, the wines that were not from Lopez de Heredia or CUNE provided introductions to important producers of this period with whom I'd had no previous experience.

• 2005 Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Huet Brut

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Pale, some florality. Mid-weight. Dry, chalk and mineral finish with good cling.

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• 1976 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  Light ruby with tawny brown edge. High toned, penetrating cedary perfume with a sense of sweetness. Some greener tones and spice as it sits out. Stylish medium weight, woody base, beautiful natural ripeness of fruit. Good acidity with a little VA. Gently tannic and somewhat chocolatey finish. Integrated and well balanced with an initial bite at the end that ameliorates. For me, the best of the the 1976 wines.

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• 1976 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Bosconia

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Light and tawny. High pitched creosote. Rather raw and meaty at first with a combination of fragrance and a leathery/sweaty aroma. Full bodied with licorice and black fruit, fairly dense feel. Minty finish, not quite as complex as the Riojanas. This transiently improves and lengthens, but it quickly attenuates and the wood dries and becomes much more intrusive.

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• 1976 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Palest of the first 3 reds. Mint, wintergreen and a touch of caramel. Sweeter redder fruit, charred wood and significant tannin left. Big wine with obvious full woody base, tarry and little noticeable acidity.

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• 1975 Bodegas Bilbainas Rioja Viña Pomal Crianza

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Pale. Prominent VA and a strange seaweed-like smell. Dry, sharp, astringent and showing surprising alcoholic heat. Quickly falls apart with sherry on the finish. The one wine this evening that was undeniably over the hill.

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• 1975 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Viña Albina Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  Healthy color. Anise, flowers and sweet black cherry-attractive nose. Bigger, lusher style with medicinal, licorice flavors. Rich and incredibly youthful, still quite bound up and structured. Harsher finish with acetone keeps it from being great.

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• 1973 Bodegas Franco-Españolas Rioja Royal Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  Light. Caramel, VA, cedar and cinnamon. Lovely, elegant wine with remnant sweetness. Excellent complexity with herbal finish. Gorgeous and one of the more ethereal wines of the evening for me.

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• 1970 Bodegas Franco-Españolas Rioja Cosecha Especial Bordón

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  Medium color. Piquant strawberries, brown sugar and spice, touch of smoke and a rising anise note. Big wine with dark chocolate and marzipan on the entry. Fresh acidity, great spicy cherry liqueur fruit, really young and not at all marked by wood. Different from any of the younger wines that preceded it. Absolutely amazing vibrance of the underlying fruit for 40+ year old wine. Not the most subtle or complex wine but hugely impressive nonetheless.

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• 1970 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Viña Real Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Pale with brownish tint. Fragrant with almost candied, roasted fruit and baking spice but also a stalky element. Medium weight but densely packed. Subtle and sinuous despite the sweetness. Becomes more elegant, spicy and airy as it opens. Marvelous wine.

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• 1970 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  Medium center. Cherry fruit. This also has a fuller, sweeter impression. Very harmonious showing its vanillin wood only at the very end. It develops more soil and complexity as it unfolds. Finish is slightly shortened by the effect of the oak. Not quite up to the other 2 wines in this fantastic flight.

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• 1964 Bodegas Franco-Españolas Rioja Excelso - Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  Something funny on the nose here-lightly corked or maybe cooked? Tastes clean though. After some upfront overripe, porty notes, an essentially delicate wine with evanescent feel and fascinating allspice notes. I get the sense that a perfect bottle of this could be very special, but something about this was not quite right.

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• 1964 Bodegas Bilbainas Rioja Viña Pomal Reserva Especial Flawed

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Unbearably corked. A pity since lots of wine underneath.

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• 1964 Bodegas Bilbainas Rioja Clarete Fino Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  Very fragrant apple (yes, apple) and spice on the nose. Just a wisp of sweeter fruit on the entry, then light, high acid and subtle smokiness. In the end, the fruit is short, leaving it somewhat tart. This reminded me very much of mature Nebbiolo.

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• 1959 Bodegas Unidas Rioja Fuenmayor Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  Pale, looks like a very old Pinot without any browning at all. Bright red fruit and toffee aromatics. Delicate but the fruit does have the confectionary quality suggested by the nose. Excellent acidity gives it real lift and it has great inner mouth perfume with florality. Some anise on the finish provides even more interest. Wow, this is astonishing for its freshness, utterly beautiful. My top wine of this incredible series. Pretty much perfection now.

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• 1956 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Viña Albina Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  Darker and deeper than the '59. Very alive with blackberry and licorice. Bigger, more strapping wine than the '59-a striking counterpoint. Fruit is all blackberry with tobacco and camphor-very Rhonish profile. Lots of tannin remains. As shocking as it sounds, this could actually improve and soften with more time. More impressive in its own right than pleasurable at present, but I wonder whether you could find a 1956 red wine of this quality and relative vigor from any other region of the world.

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One superlative wine (the 1959 Fuenmayor), several excellent ones, and some that reinforced my view that the oak treatment can dry out some of these wines and render them charmless and astringent. Overall, however, the staying power they exhibited was impressive. Based upon the incredible freshness displayed by all three 1970 wines, I can only imagine how fruity and concentrated they must have been at the beginning of their lives. A very informative evening which proved that in this part of the world, there is life beyond Lopez Heredia.