Five Decades of Bodegas Riojanas Monte Real

Piperade Restaurant, San Francisco
Tasted Friday, January 25, 2013 by drwine2001 with 1,128 views

Introduction

Another incomparable vertical dinner put on by the Rare Wine Company. As always, an incredible opportunity to taste through 5 decades of a relatively unknown (in the U.S., anyway) traditional Rioja producer.

Flight 1 - Apertif (1 Note)

Flight 2 - Younger Wines and a Ringer (4 Notes)

Both the 2001 Monte Real and the newer styled Lealtanza were pretty tough going (for different reasons), but the mid-1990 wines were nice.

  • 2001 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Gran Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Dark color. All dill oak on the nose. Medium weight. Astringent oak more than fruit, although some blueberry and spicy cherry do come up as it settles down. However, the wood still wins in the end. I seriously question the balance going forward.

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  • 2001 Bodegas Altanza Rioja Lealtanza Reserva Miro

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Tasted as mystery wine in the flight. Pretty interesting nose with a prominent smoky, peaty component and then a very ripe cherry topnote. Bigger and sappier than the Riojanas wine-incense, black cherry and some blueberry. Smooth feel with less obvious wood, but then a drier, tannic finish. Glossy but not nearly as interesting on the palate as the initial aromatics.

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  • 1995 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    A shade lighter than the 2001. Stalky smell with a touch of secondary development. Medium to lighter weight, quite elegant feel. Crisp acidity, a hint of caramel, good length. Excellent balance to start, but after a short time in the glass, this dried and shortened, and was overtaken by green elements. Attractive at first, but it doesn't give me a lot of optimism about any further development.

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  • 1994 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Same color as the 1995. Soil filled, perfumed nose. Sweeter and longer than the 1995 with good acidity and some herbs at the end. Some richness without weight. Here the balance seemed terrific until some overt greenness and volatile acidity intruded. Nice start but the trajectory was hardly reassuring.

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Flight 3 - 1991 and 1987 Monte Real and Vina Albina (4 Notes)

This was a terrific flight that afforded the opportunity to taste both of the house's top wines from good vintages.

  • 1991 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Medium ruby. The most complex, subtle nose to this point with secondary high tones and some green. Slight sweet fruit upfront. Medium weight. Finishes with high acidity and a powerful, almost Rhone-like pepperiness. Some remaining tannin. Not harmonious although some nice elements to this.

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  • 1991 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Viña Albina Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Surprisingly dark color. Riper nose than the Monte Real from the same vintage. Very pretty: round feel, terrific fruit, more mature feel. Only nit is some tart acidity which arrives late and detracts a bit from the length. Nevertheless, very fine and one of the better wines of the night for me.

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  • 1987 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Gran Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Maturing color. Perfumed with some black licorice notes. Medium weight. Rich, incredibly fresh cherry fruit. In fact, in the context of these wines, this one may have had the most exuberant fruit that was least impacted by the drying effect of oak. Spicy and a long, elegant finish. Another winner from this excellent flight.

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  • 1987 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Viña Albina Gran Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Again, slighter deeper than its sib. Unique clove aroma along with some secondary aromas. Leaner, lighter, less fruit driven and more earthy than the Monte Real. Silky, long, gently fading finish with the common hint of green at the very end. The best and most harmonious wine of the flight, and one of my favorites of the entire series. I can now clearly see that the bottle I tasted (and savaged) earlier this month was not a shadow of what this can be.

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Flight 4 - 1983 to 1976 Monte Real (5 Notes)

Other attendees were more impressed with this flight than I was (particularly with the 1982), but I found the 1981 was pretty special.

  • 1983 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Tawny, mature looking. Candied fruit on the nose. Medium-light bodied. Sweet entry, good acidity, little tannin. Not terribly complex for 30 year old wine and falls off badly at the end. Unimpressive.

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  • 1982 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Disjointed nose-green, stalky, some VA. Light weight, fairly one dimensional, and that dimension is mostly wood. This did improve and begin to show a little fruit as it sat out, but I still think this is dried out and beyond a point of much pleasure.

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  • 1981 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Medium ruby. Very attractive aromatics that included herbs, spice and some perfume. Medium weight. Carressing, round feel. Some tannins to resolve. This reminded me more of Bordeaux than any of the other wines this evening. Far and away, the most appealing wine from the early '80s to late '70s flight. A real beauty.

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  • 1978 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Light ruby. Pungent, aromatic black licorice. Some wood in evidence. Some richness to begin with, but overall dry and the finish is raspy and astringent. Not bad but nowhere to go but down, I'm afraid.

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  • 1976 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Medium center. Funky, aggressively sweaty nose. There is a wonderful sense of sweet fruit amazing for the age, but clunky tannins and significant volatile acidity ultimately make it feel harsh and poorly integrated. A question of balance, not adequate material. Not as good a bottle as the one tasted in 2011.

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Flight 5 - 1975 to 1964 Monte Real (4 Notes)

From flawed wines to the 2 excellent older examples

  • 1975 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Gran Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Green scented and a sense of underripeness. Dry edge with just a tad of fruit blossoming over time. Hard to get excited about this one.

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  • 1970 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Gran Reserva Flawed

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Overpowering VA. More fruit than the nose suggests with some vanillin as well. This is short and quickly crumbles on both the nose and palate. The low point of the evening and the only wine I'll tick off as flawed.

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  • 1967 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Moderately deep color. Obvious volatile acidity is the main component of the nose. In the mouth, quite rich, blacker character fruit that becomes somewhat chocolatey. Good texture and length. Impressively lively and far superior to the 1970 that preceded it. Still, I have to say that I preferred both the '81 and the '64 that followed this bottle.

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  • 1964 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Reserva

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Also medium color-very healthy looking for age. Some spice and licorice drop that some of these wines showed. Excellent freshness and crunchiness of fruit for a wine approaching 50 years of age. Good length and very satisfying balance. This still has some residual tannins and amazingly, it seems like one of the wines that is a candidate for further positive development. A great way to end the dinner.

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Closing

As you can see from the notes, I found this to be a rather mixed bag with relatively few "wow" wines. It was also interesting that several of my favorites were not Monte Reals, but its stablemate, the Vina Albina, which is made in a more elegant style without Garnacha in the cepage. I don't think that Riojanas occupies a spot in the highest echelon of producers in the region. Nevertheless, it was a great treat to taste through these wines, and many of them would be worth trying over the short term given their unbelievably reasonable pricing.

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