La Rioja Alta Dinner

It was in my time as a student that I lost my virginity (fine wine speaking) to La Rioja Alta and similar wines ...plus Ch. Musar....in the era of the earliest wines on offer at this tasting. So it was a no-brainer to attend. and I'm so pleased that I did. My wife and Harold & Rita semed to enjoy it as much as me. Congratulations to Ivy Ng and her colleagues at Armit Wines for organising a near-perfect wine dinner that was clearly enjoyed by everyone who attended....including the Spansh trade Consul and his wife (who are from Rioja). The food from the team at Ole restaurant was really excellent.......truly great.

• 2010 Lagar de Cervera Albariño Rías Baixas 88 Points

  Spain, Galicia, Rías Baixas

  Full-bodied bright golden colour. Looks oxidative but the nose is actually very fresh....clean oak and some malo together with new suede moccassins. Palate is a good salivating acidic initial attack followed by white peaches, Chinese fresh pears and hibiscus at the back. Some body. A touch of honey in there somewhere. Nicely balanced and somewhat remniscent of a white Bordeaux (but the grape is 100% Albarino). Went perfectly with aged Iberico ham on oven-fresh baguette. Great QPR at around US$17 in Hong Kong and something "different" that won't disappoint anyone, I'm sure.

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The quality of these Tapas was as high as any I have eaten in Barcelona, Madrid or Seville....just great!

• 2006 Aster Ribera del Duero Crianza 87 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Dark ruby transparent colour. Nose of black cherry and nail polish. Palate is lovely rounded velevty mouhfeel and predominant flavours of black chocolate with a good, quite young tannic back end. Young but fun...heady alcohol but well tamed.

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• 2004 Aster Ribera del Duero Reserva 87 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Opaque, dark purple, bloody-ruby colour. Nose is holding back but has a brooding power and machine-ground granite quality....it could have done with prior decanting, I think...evolving slightly to lots of deep, dark black cherry. Palate is rather young and harsh unbalanced acidity together with unbalanced but not overly obtrusive oak. Mouthpuckering tannins. Headachingly young but with good length and some resonance on the finish. Needs lots of time....5 years?....will improve. Whilst this is not at all expensive, from a value perspective I preferred the 2006 Aster Crianza.

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This was an outstanding dish.....with a weight and freshness and richness that is very rare to find....a fantastic counterpoint to the three serious red wines that followed.

• 2001 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva Especial 92 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Colour is still purple-hued (suggesting youth) but totally transparent. Nose is lovely Burgundy-like woodland strawberries and sous-bois. Palate is sharp young wild strawberries, and high refreshing acidity. Very light and chiffonesque but with a touch of cinnamon stick and other spices and slightly dry tannin, again suggesting youth. Good framing oak neatly slotted into the background. Lovely and a very feminine expression of Rioja. It really blossomed when you put it in a big Bordeaux glass (it hadn't been decanted beforehand). You can imagine this being absolutely captivating and silence-creating when it reaches a bit more maturity (5 years time?) but it died in the glass after 2 hours which suggests it doesn't have decades to unfold. This is crazily attractive value at around US$35.....I'd say it is worth US$70+. Note to Cellartracker: this is only the third vintage to be given the "Reserva Especial" classification (the others were 1964 and 1973).

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• 1998 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904 88 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Deep, blood-red semi-transparent colour. Nose is oak, mahogany, old furniture polish, powerful deep notes on a church organ. Very well made nose-wise, if that makes any sense. Palate is a disappointment - just too youg, overly thin, lean and over-predominant acid. The fruit is totally hiding but there are hints of lovely silky opulence ahead of it. Hard to score....88?

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• 1995 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904 90 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Still looks very young - maybe because it wasn't bottled until it was 5 years-old - semi-transparent and lightening at the edges. Nose is lovely fresh strawberries...still very young and elusive.....a heavenly light and "chase after me" nose. Palate is light acidic but real "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" power. Good length and hints of rolling thunder resonance. Still very young but this has a lovely feminine Rioja style. Give it another 5-7 years.

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The Roasted Suckling Pig, in particular, was just fantastic.........

• 1995 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 890 93 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Slightest bricking but still hints of purple too, semi-translucent. Alluring, deep black fruit on the nose....real power. Palate is much lighter than the nose would suggest but is lovely and light and harmonious and balanced and just entering its drinking window. Too high acidity at present dominates over the promise of plush velvet and silky tannins but it will definitely harmonise in 5 years' time. Light diaphanous but persistent resonance on the finish. Gorgeous.....gosh, with extended time in the glass this is really beautiful and the resonance has expanded and just keeps growing.

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• 1994 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 890 93 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Wow....totally opaque, black-hole brooding colour....hints of purple and the merest touch of daylight...much darker than the 1995 that preceded it....on sight you'd guess this was a 2001. Nose is light, lifted, Burgundy-esque, chiffonesque....rose petals...gosh, so much multi-dimensionality and will-o'-the-whisp. The palate is the first wine of the night to show any secondary elements - earth, very small wild woodland strawberries.....enormous depth....quite stunning! I am losing myself into reveries as I sniff and drink this, even though it is clearly still an adolescent. Stays very fresh in the glass over a couple of hours or more and the nose continues to blossom although the palate stays firmly adolescent. This will be a showstopper in another 10 years and probably has at least 20 years of improvement ahead of it.

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• 1982 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 890 95 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Alluring colour, slightly bricking blood-red translucent with a white meniscus. Nose is OMFG....white mushrooms, raw milk-fed veal, Spanish saddle leather (honestly, Spanish!), new saddle leather....so light yet so complex.... a totally mesmerising nose. Palate is gorgeously inviting sharp black cherry, kirsch, Linea eau de vie, high-toned white spirit.....incredibly light and very high piano notes with even more incredible endless length and resonance inside the head. Brilliant.....and yet still so young. Definitely on of my wines of the year.....I think it will move into my elusive pantheon of 96+ personal score wines on re-visiting over the next few years.

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Wow!.....the 1982 was one of the best wines I have drank in 2011 and I suspect that the 2001 Ardanza Reserva Especial might get there too one day.