2001 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904

Tempranillo Blend

davestenton wrote:

June 6, 2013 - Roberson Spanish Walkabout Tasting (Roberson, High Street Kensington, London): Cherry, vanilla and (unusually for Rioja?) limestone. Sweet entry. Much finer - and riper - tannin. Taut and focussed. A little tart but it should ease off. Fresh and elegant. 16.5+/20. 2016+

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Harley1199 commented:

6/13/13, 10:56 PM - Hi there Davestenton,
Nice walk you had...
I think you enjoyed but those 16+, are they a kind of standard for fine?
Just kidding
Cheers,
davestenton commented:

6/14/13, 12:10 AM - Hi Harley:

I use this scale (taken from JancisRobinson.com):

20 - Truly exceptional
19 - A humdinger
18 - A cut above superior
17 - Superior
16 - Distinguished
15 - Average, a perfectly nice drink with no faults but not much excitement

If there's a + that means I think the wine will improve once it reaches its drinking window.
Harley1199 commented:

6/14/13, 12:54 AM - Hi again,
Thanks for the explanation.
I knew that British system, among many others that work in the islands.
My comment was more for that you scored the same for 95 890, 01 904, Ardanza 04 than for the scoring system.
Just curious...
Cheers,
davestenton commented:

6/14/13, 2:04 AM - I actually gave all three wines slightly different scores: Ardanza 04 is 16+, so potentially a 16.5 (by 2015). I rated the 904 2001 16.5+, so potentially 17 (by 2016). And I scored the 890 1995 16.5 as I don't see it improving.
Harley1199 commented:

6/14/13, 3:34 AM - Davestenton,
Very clear... Almost the same score.
Maybe it's a style you don't like the most, I think. Probably I'm wrong.
Cheers anyway!