Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Thursday, November 11, 2021 - The wine is a selection of best fruit sourced from the vineyards in Rioja Alavesa, a blend of Tempranillo (80%) and Graciano (20%). Aged for approximately 20 months in French oak barriques, bottled on October 25th, 2001. 13,5% alcohol. Bottle #21551 of total 71130 bottles. Tasted blind.

Almost fully opaque, dark figgy color with an evolved maroon hue. The nose feels tertiary and even slightly oxidative with complex aromas of leather, some dried-fruit notes of dried figs and prunes, a little bit of toasty mocha oak, light raisiny nuances, a hint of dark chocolate and a faint funky touch of barnyard. The wine is rich, full-bodied and very evolved on the palate with rather tertiary - even subtly oxidative - flavors of dried figs and raisins, some toasty mocha oak, light funky notes of leather saddle and farmhouse, a little bit of extracted woody bitterness, a sweet hint of ripe red plums and a touch of savory, slightly peppery spices. Although quite big in body with moderate richness, the wine feels enjoyably balanced, thanks to its moderately high acidity and ripe and gentle yet ample and firm tannins. The finish is ripe, dark-toned and slightly sweetly-fruited with a long aftertaste of dried figs and dark raisiny fruit, some mocha tones, a little bit of old leather saddle, light oaky notes of savory wood spice, a hint of juicy red fruits and a touch of earth. The ample yet gentle tannins make the wine end on a subtly grippy note.

A rich, complex and quite evolved Rioja. Although the wine is obviously made in a rather modern fashion, evident in its still somewhat noticeable toasty French oak tones and how it does not adhere to the traditional Crianza/Reserva/Gran Reserva system of Rioja, it has lost most of its obviously modernist qualities with age, coming across as a wine with great sense of depth and harmony. Although the wine represents the more modern end of the stylistic spectrum, it is still quite recognizable for a Rioja, as so many people guessed that this might be Rioja with some age. I would've expected the wine to be a bit older, as 22 years should be really nothing to a proper Rioja, but I guess this is where the difference between the old-school Riojas and the modernist wines starts to get obvious - these just don't seem to age that well. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable effort all the same - and at its peak right now; I don't see much upside to any further aging. Priced according to its quality at 39,90€.

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