Black Lion Wine Club - Rioja
The Black Lion
Tasted April 22, 2016 by Andrewbdc with 494 views
Introduction
Continuing the theme of wines from a single region, this one focused on Rioja, with one additional wine from Navarra as an interesting comparison. Attendees were Jon, Charles, Noel and Caroline, Andrew and Victoria.
Flight 1 - White Rioja (2 notes)
Oaked vs unoaked, both modern style, 100% Viura.
The nose if clean with medium (-) intensity simple ripe fruit aromas of citrus fruits (lemon, grapefruit), green fruits (apple), tropical fruits (mango), floral (white blossom). The wine is youthful.
The palate is dry with medium (+) acidity, medium alcohol, medium body, medium intensify flavours of grapefruit, lemon, apple, mango. The finish is medium length.
The wine is food in quality. It has straightforward ripe fruit but lacks any real complexity. The finish is only of medium length. The acidity balances the fruit and provides structure. It lacks concentration and complexity to be rated any higher.
The wine should be drunk now and is not suitable for ageing - the fruit is likely to fade, leaving just the acidity.
A nice straightforward modern white Rioja.
The nose is clean with medium intensity aromas of citrus fruits (lemon, grapefruit), green fruits (Apple), oak (vanilla, sweet spice, toast). The wine is youthful.
The palate is dry with medium (+) acidity, medium alcohol, medium body, medium (+) intensity flavours of grapefruit, lemon, vanilla, spice, toast. The finish is medium (+) length.
The wine is food in quality. It has decent flavour concentration and some complexity from primary and secondary aromas. The acid balances the fruit, the oak is evident but well integrated. The finish is of reasonable length. It lacks concentration of fruit and complexity to be rated higher.
The wine should be drunk now and is not suitable for further ageing. Even with the oak influence, this is not a wine for the long haul. The fruit is likely to fade leaving the acid structure before any real tertiary flavours develop.
Flight 2 - Red Rioja (2 notes)
Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva Reds. Here are the notes for the Joven and Crianza as neither are in the Cellartracker database (both majority Tempranillo with some Garnacha, Joven had 6 months in oak, the Crianza 12 months).
Conde Bell Rioja 2013 (own-label from Flagship Wines)
Clear, medium Ruby
Clean nose, medium intensity aromas of red fruit (cherry, strawberry), spice (liquorice), oak (vanilla, cream). Youthful.
Dry palate, medium (+) acidity, medium firm tannins, medium (+) alcohol, medium body, medium (-) intensity flavours. Finish is medium (-).
Acceptable quality. Has some nice red fruit and oak characteristics but lacks concentration, depth and finish.
Drink now, not suitable for further ageing.
Conde Bell Rioja Crianza 2011 (own-label from Flagship Wines)
Clear, medium garnet.
Clean nose, medium (+) intensity aromas of red fruit (cherry, strawberry), spice (cinnamon), oak (vanilla), dried fruit (fig), tertiary (leather, savoury). Developing.
Dry palate, medium (+) acidity, medium (+) ripe tannins, medium (+) alcohol, medium (+) body, medium intensity flavours of red cherry, strawberry, leather, savoury, vanilla. Finish is medium.
Good quality. Some concentration and complexity, reasonable length finish, acid and tannins balanced by the fruit. Lacks concentration and complexity to be rated higher, but clear step up in quality from entry level.
Drink now, not suitable for further ageing, although no hurry to drink.
The nose is clean with pronounced aromas of baked black fruit (black berry, cassis) and baked red fruit (strawberry, cherry), oak (vanilla, toast), dried fruit (prune, date), tertiary (leather, Earth, animal, smoke, dark chocolate). The wine is developing.
The palate is dry with high acidity, medium (+) ripe tannins, medium alcohol, medium (+) body, pronounced flavours of blackberry, strawberry, cherry, vanilla, toast, leather, earth, date, dark chocolate. The finish is long.
The wine is outstanding quality. It has great concentration of fruit and complexity from primary, secondary and tertiary clusters. The acid and tannins are in balance with the fruit, and provide a nice structure to the wine, which is very elegant. The finish is long and persistent.
The wine can be drunk now although it is suitable for further ageing for a further 5 years. It has the structure to support further development and enough primary fruits to allow for further tertiary flavours to develop.
An excellent example of a quality Rioja Reserva.
95% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano, 24 months in old and new oak, 80% American, 20% French.
The nose is clean with pronounced intensity aromas of dark fruit (blackberry, black cherry, cassis), red fruit (red cherry), oak (vanilla, toast, smoke), dried fruit (fig, date), tertiary development (leather, caramel, earth, animal). The wine is developing.
The palate is dry with high acidity, medium (+) soft, ripe tannins, medium (+) alcohol, medium (+) body, pronounced intensity flavours of blackberry, cherry, vanilla, smoke, leather, earth. The finish is long.
The wine is outstanding quality. It has great fruit concentration and complexity from primary, secondary and tertiary clusters. The acidity and tannins provide structure and balance the fruit. The finish is long and persistent. If I had one criticism, I would say that the oak is still quite evident and not completely integrated.
The wine can be drunk now but is suitable for further ageing for at least 10 years. It has the structure and fruit concentration to allow further development of tertiary clusters, and also to allow the oak to integrate fully.
A fantastic Rioja Gran Reserva with a long life ahead of it.
85% Tempranilla, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuela, 36 months in oak.
Flight 3 - Red Navarra (1 note)
100% Garnacha, made from 75-year old vines, aged 12 months in old and new French oak barrels of different sizes.
The nose is clean with pronounced intensity aromas of sweet ripe black fruit (blackberry, black plum, black cherry), red fruit (red cherry, raspberry), oak (vanilla, clove, toast), spice (liquorice), other secondary (minerals), tertiary (leather, savoury). The wine is developing.
The palate is dry with medium (+) acidity, medium (+) ripe tannins, high acidity, full body, pronounced intensity flavours of blackberry, black plum, red and black cherry, vanilla, clove, toast. The finish is medium (+).
The wine is very good quality. It has excellent concentration of fruit and some complexity from primary, secondary and tertiary clusters. The acid and tannins balance the fruit. The finish is a good length with moderate persistence. It lacks a little length and complexity to be outstanding.
The wine can be drunk now but is suitable for further ageing for at least 5 years. It has the concentration of fruit supported by the acid and tannin structure to allow further development of tertiary flavours.
Closing
Excellent to taste the differences and to discuss different preferences and appreciations of the wines. As usual, I loved the more mature bottles, but the whites offered very nice wines too. A successful tasting.