Aged Tempranillos from Rioja and Ribeira - Virtual wine tasting

As always, we prepared and exchanged samples late morning, and conducted the tasting late afternoon. Only the La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva 2015 was aerated for two hours, all other samples were prepared straight from bottle.

• 1978 Berberana Rioja Gran Reserva 89 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  Wine 1 of 6. Medium brown, orange towards the edges. On day one, the wine showed red fruit (fresh and dried), dill, coffee, tobacco, spices, and cinnamon, with medium-level acidity, fully resolved tannin, and good length. Upon opening, the wine was lightly drying and a little weak, but it developed very well with moderate aeration, and showed best in combination with Filet Mignon. By day two, the wine became a little fuller, smoothly textured and fairly harmonious, with nice dark and red fruit flavors, dill, tobacco, light balsamic notes, and complex spice notes, still with good persistence. Still enjoyable if maybe not quite on the same level on day three.
  
  I suggest to drink now, after 30 minutes of aeration in a small decanter.

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• 1996 Bodegas Matarromera Ribera del Duero Melior 86 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Wine 2 of 6. Medium to dark garnet colour. Red fruit, light herbal notes, spice, and intense liquorice, with medium-level acidity, partly resolved tannin, and average length. A little unclean, with average concentration and complexity. The finish was very drying on day one, with an unpleasant, cardboard like aftertaste. By day two, the finish fleshed out a little and only remained lightly drying, and the unpleasant, cardboard like aftertaste was less prominent but still there.

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• 1998 Condado de Haza Ribera del Duero Crianza 86 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Wine 3 of 6. Medium garnet colour. Red fruit, herbal notes, light coffee, light tobacco, and light spice, with good acidity, partly resolved tannin, very good length. Average concentration. Undefined and disjointed on day one. Improved, more balanced but still undefined and imprecise, and still a little rustic and disjointed on day two. Acidic and drying by day three.
  
  Much less enjoyable than a bottle I had about six years ago. Pair with hearty meat dishes. Drink up.

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• 1996 Viña Gormaz Ribera del Duero 12 Linajes Crianza 89 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Wine 4 of 6. Medium to dark garnet colour. Good, ripe red and dark fruit, spices, liquorice, and herbal notes, with medium-level acidity, ripe, partly resolved tannin and good length of the herbal finish. Well-structured. (88+) Equally enjoyable on day two. (88+) Very pure and precise red cherry fruit and intense spice on day three, with a lightly dry finish. (89)
  
  I liked the wine best on day three. Still has some upside potential.

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• 1985 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva Flawed

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Wine 5 of 6. Bought recently, from an untrustworthy source... Medium brown; limited complexity of fading dried fruit, dill, spices and balsamic notes, with an unpleasant aftertaste. Not pleasant to drink. Improper storage, from what it seems...

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• 2015 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva 91 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Wine 6 of 6. Medium ruby colour. Beautiful red fruit, raspberry, dill, herbal notes, spices, light tobacco, with lively acidity, ripe, fine tannin that is chewy in a positive way, and very good length. Good structure and grip at the front and the end, juicy if maybe a little less structured and grippy in the middle which might become an issue as the wine ages. Integrated and very drinkable on days two and three. Polished.
  
  Should develop well over the medium term, but might not last for the very long term. Good value. 91(?)

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This lineup was not up to our usual standards and the wines were disappointing overall, in particular the Ribeiras from the 90s, maybe with the exception of the Linajes Crianza 1996 that developed well over the following days.