mutwonmax -> RE: Rioja Crianza, Reserva,... who cares?! (3/28/2024 11:24:05 AM)
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ORIGINAL: forceberry quote:
ORIGINAL: mutwonmax quote:
ORIGINAL: nwinther I totally agree with you that classification makes sense..! (Perhaps my thread title was a too provocative). The podcast also mentions that not all regions of Rioja use as much oak as they tend to do in Rioja Alta. In Rioja Alavesa, for example, they seem to apply less oak to their wine, so there the classification requirements would be more applicable... From my experience, many wineries in Rioja Alavesa tend to make much oakier wines than those in Rioja Alta. Sure, the wineries in Rioja Alta tend to age longer, because many older wineries are located there; they have the size, the cellars and enough capital to do that. There are lots of smaller, newer producers in Rioja Alavesa. However, I've seen that many producers in Rioja Alta use a lot more older oak - often ancient, neutral oak barrels made from American oak - whereas new French oak barriques seem to be much more in common in Rioja Alavesa. So even if the wines are aged for a longer time in oak in Rioja Alta, they often are pretty classically styled and not at all oaky - R. LdH Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva a prime example of a wine aged for 10 years in oak, yet not showing any oaky aromatics - whereas I've tasted lots of red from Rioja Alavesa that have been aged for only 12-15 months in barriques, yet they've been massively oaky. So it really isn't that straightforward to say that "they seem to apply less oak to their wine" in Rioja Alavesa. (And R. LdH is another excellent historical producer making wines that greatly exceed the minimum aging requirements - their entry-level Cubillo Crianza is aged much longer than most Reservas in the market and the Reserva versions of Viña Tondonia and Viña Bosconia could pass as Gran Reservas with flying colors!) quote:
Sure, the wineries in Rioja Alta tend to age longer, because many older wineries are located there; they have the size, the cellars and enough capital to do that. There are lots of smaller, newer producers in Rioja Alavesa. However, I've seen that many producers in Rioja Alta use a lot more older oak - often ancient, neutral oak barrels made from American oak - whereas new French oak barriques seem to be much more in common in Rioja Alavesa. So even if the wines are aged for a longer time in oak in Rioja Alta, they often are pretty classically styled and not at all oaky - R. LdH Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva a prime example of a wine aged for 10 years in oak, yet not showing any oaky aromatics - whereas I've tasted lots of red from Rioja Alavesa that have been aged for only 12-15 months in barriques, yet they've been massively oaky. So it really isn't that straightforward to say that "they seem to apply less oak to their wine" in Rioja Alavesa. That's quite possible. I probably should have phrased "less barrel time" rather than "less oak". After all I was only trying to make an assumption as to why the classification system in Rioja still serves a good purpose even though some bodegas keep their wine in barrels much longer than classification would require them to...
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