Decanted for an hour. Deep purple-brown color with high viscosity. Aromas of dried blue fruits, smoke, leather, tobacco, coffee, and cocoa. On the palate, herbal, vegetable, spices, and nut skins. Full body and bone-dry wine with well-integrated tannins and acidity. Great complexity and long finish. Well balance and delightful 23-year-old wine. We paired it with roasted pork leg which really brought the sweetness of the pork and the beauty of the wine. A gem at this price point!
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
drinking beautifully right now. decanted for an hour. dark berry and blue fruits. velvet tannins. some earth, spice and licorice in the second glass. paired nicely with smoked chicken patties. Drink up.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
I purchased this only because I’d previously enjoyed the 1994 vintage of this wine back in 2012 and was impressed by its youthful longevity at 18 years. Like it’s predecessor, at twenty-three years, the color of this wine is very youthful with quite a bit of purple floral notes, maturing black fruits, still intact structure and solid balance. Notable complexity, with green herbaceousness and terrior inspired earth tones adding an interesting flair at mid-palate. Finishes strong. Perfect with the thick cut pork chops and peppers and onions. Drink through 2027+.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Delightful! This was dark hued, with a clear rim, medium bodied, and a nice, long finish. Aromas of oak, cherry and leather. On the palate are notes of orange peel, oak, maraschino cherries and chocolate. Velvety smooth tannins. This is elegant, with the complexity of an older wine. A well maintained beauty, probably at its peak.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Delicious! Medium-plus body with a nice thick texture and blend of primary and tertiary notes. Producer consistently provides quality and aging in excess of its price. Enjoyable with complexity from age. High QPR.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Not what I was expecting -- I've never had an aged Crianza. Fresh, bright raspberry on an acidic beam enough at times to make you pucker. Some suggestion of berry fruit mid palate -- medium structure. I'll let the next bottle rest a few months and try it again.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This is the third bottle I’ve had in the past four months. They were each quite different - same vintage so it’s a lot of bottle variation. One was mostly dark fruit (prune, plum, raisin) with little of the tertiary aromas you expect at this age. Perhaps overheated at some point. The last was somewhere between the other two. Such things happen when a wine gets old and none were “bad”. It’s still a great opportunity to try something older at an affordable price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Purfume and flowers on the nose. Medium bodied, no hard edges, some soft oak and resolved tannin present, some freshness and acid still. Muted fruit, mostly plums and strawberries. Some licorice and stone. Nice.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted 2 hours which was sufficient. What a treat to drink a 22 year old wine for under $30! It is fully mature and really rather lovely. Very easy drinking! Nothing too extravagant but just a nice fully mature Rioja. The tannins are almost all resolved, there is some good acidity and still some life left! This to me is a classic example of an aged Rioja crianza.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This pours medium ruby in the glass with perhaps the faintest hint of bricking at the rim. On first pop the nose is quite reserved aromatically, but gradually opens up to moderate complexity and intensity showing dried strawberry, dried cherry, sage, bay leaf, touches of old cedar, and a whiff of tobacco. The palate enters on bright ripe dried strawberries turning to fine grained medium minus tannin and medium plus acid. The finish closes nicely on macerated blueberries and tobacco, lingering pleasantly. All in all this is a lovely little bottle of Rioja. Not showing quite the complexity I might expect from a better wine of similar age, but really no other apparent drawbacks either. Notably this is not really showing the overt Vanilla and Coconut I might expect from Rioja. Very enjoyable weekday night bottle and good value at $29 CAD.
Medium bodied, higher acidity, tannins clearly softened a lot by the age. Dried strawberry, tart cherry. Tobacco, damp earth, walnut. Wonderful with Norwegian fjord trout.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
– the grapes that they have are capable of aging. Because they have been making the wine that long, own the vineyards, are all enginers and built their own winery, and work as consultant for many other wineries in the 1980 – 2001, and because they sell off half their fruit, they can punch through to the nitch market of long aged wines. And his dad worked aas the director of the enological / techninncal regional authority.
This wine is a little bit longer… 15 months in oak, and then it went back to the tank, and then its spent the entire time in tank. This started because of the UK market wanting something between Crianza and Reserva. And its much easier to store the wine in large stainless steel tanks, which allows large volumes and keeping it fresh longer. And they discovered that because its not filtered or clarified it gets more stable and yet also doesn’t have sediments. And the Asian market doesn’t want any sediments. Apparently the Asian market really hates sediments. And they want very old things, don’t care if its expensive but don’t want sediments. So this they just bottle when the market demands it. At this point it could be labeled reserva but they don’t do that with this label. They start marketing the wines very slow.
Flowery and pretty on the nose, just a touch of the walnut but more flowery to it. Soft and flowery and perfumed on the palate. Strong streak of acidity running through it. Lively and fresh.
Opened and enjoyed a glass night 1, but pumped down for the next night. Night 2 wine was lovely ruby red in the glass with a brownish hue edge, probably more youthful in appearance than expected. The first glass had a muted earthy nose with a damp forest type component. The second glass provided more tobacco and menthol giving way to notes of sweeter vanilla & toasted almonds. The palate is very mellow in intensity, perhaps not as smooth as I would have expected a bit more oak remaining. Flavors of dried red and black fruits with the sweetness hinting towards coconut and fig. The finish is lingering with pepper spices and continuing dried fruits, a fine aged wine. . Wine Making Notes: From 20 year old vines. Aged for 15 months in American oak casks, released early before reaching 'Reserva' status. . Bodegas Benito Urbina is situated in the town of Cuzcurrita de Rio Tiron in Rioja Alta. With 75 hectares in total - 65 of Tempranillo and 10 of Graziano, Mazuelo and Viura - and the estate has been in the family hands for 4 generations. They first bottled their own wines in 1975.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Almost unsurprisingly, at pop n pour, a taster called this wine mediocre. Was elegant and complex then.
Now later at night, extraordinary with food. Dried red fruit aromas. Not too earthy, but still savory. Suave texture, smooth, plump, with all the crevices spackled. A ghostly floral aroma that comes and goes. A balsam edge to the nose. In no way herbal or American oak-y.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Beautiful Port like nose, sweet spices, vanilla, dried cherry. Ripe plums, black currant, well integrated oak on the palate. Low tannins, low-medium body, a soft wine of feminine character. Well balanced and perfect introduction to aged wine at a very reasonable price. 90-91
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Russk. Brought after the Primo Sunrise blind tasting. $25P. Nice soft mature Rioja. Liked the 2004 Gran Riserva more. But this was almost as good for 1/2 the price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I wasn't sure if this wine would still be good, but it absolutely was. P&P did not show much maturity, but day 2 did in spades. Excellent value at only $34 CAD. Drink or hold.
Reddish brown N: M aromas of vanilla, prunes, cocoa and violets, not highly expressive on the nose P: H acid, M+ grippy tannin, M alcohol (13.5), M body and expressive flavours jump from the glass. Very rich flavours of cocoa, dates, vanilla, blotted medlar, tobacco, American oak, salted meats, and some dried chilli flakes. Beautiful, rich and expressive wine. Noticeably older and very secondary, fresh and with great acidity and body, I think it would make a truly excellent food wine. Maybe with a roast, or caserolle? Excellent for the price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
First bottle was disappointing, nice medium bodied mellow structure but a little uneven flavor profile, at times too sweet and a fruit bomb, other times dark caramel port like qualities...but intellectually interesting for the price
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
21 ans vraiment... Nez sur le fruit noir (cerise noire), d'épices douces et de goudron. Fondu, encore sur les fruits noirs et les épices. Long, suave et merveilleusement équilibré même si pas nécessairement très complexe. Longue vie devant. À 34$ à la LCBO, une très rare aubaine incroyable!
Superbe nez très fruité de fruits noirs et cerise , très léger tabac, goudron. Attaque ample, fruité encore sur les fruits noirs, vanille. Long. Tanins et bois bien integre. Semble jeune! Longue vie devant.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
4/21/2024 - rnjbond wrote: 88 Points
Normally don't like Rioja, but this was enjoyable and has aged nicely.
Nice acidity, mellow tannins.
88 points.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/8/2024 - Ruubious wrote:
Same note as last year. This is doing quite well.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/6/2024 - DeuceMcgee wrote:
Similar notes to Petalito. Great find for under $30. Perfect example of what aged Rioja can do. Bangarang vibes for sure.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/31/2023 - Petalito Likes this wine: 90 Points
Decanted for an hour. Deep purple-brown color with high viscosity. Aromas of dried blue fruits, smoke, leather, tobacco, coffee, and cocoa. On the palate, herbal, vegetable, spices, and nut skins. Full body and bone-dry wine with well-integrated tannins and acidity. Great complexity and long finish. Well balance and delightful 23-year-old wine. We paired it with roasted pork leg which really brought the sweetness of the pork and the beauty of the wine. A gem at this price point!
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/30/2023 - thomashmillard wrote: 94 Points
Whiskey swap
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/26/2023 - EdwardsCellar Likes this wine: 90 Points
probably at its peak. drink in next 12 months.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/4/2023 - classicalspin Likes this wine: 90 Points
Brown at the edges, fully resolved. Beginning its decline.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
10/27/2023 - EdwardsCellar Likes this wine: 90 Points
drinking beautifully right now. decanted for an hour. dark berry and blue fruits. velvet tannins. some earth, spice and licorice in the second glass. paired nicely with smoked chicken patties. Drink up.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/10/2023 - wmccone54 wrote: 91 Points
I purchased this only because I’d previously enjoyed the 1994 vintage of this wine back in 2012 and was impressed by its youthful longevity at 18 years. Like it’s predecessor, at twenty-three years, the color of this wine is very youthful with quite a bit of purple floral notes, maturing black fruits, still intact structure and solid balance. Notable complexity, with green herbaceousness and terrior inspired earth tones adding an interesting flair at mid-palate. Finishes strong. Perfect with the thick cut pork chops and peppers and onions. Drink through 2027+.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
8/26/2023 - EdwardsCellar Likes this wine: 90 Points
decanted for 2 hours. very balanced set of black fruits, tannin and mild acidity. Really good. paired nicely with lightly seasoned filet mignon
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
8/25/2023 - cjoetucker@aol.com Likes this wine: 91 Points
Delightful! This was dark hued, with a clear rim, medium bodied, and a nice, long finish. Aromas of oak, cherry and leather. On the palate are notes of orange peel, oak, maraschino cherries and chocolate. Velvety smooth tannins. This is elegant, with the complexity of an older wine. A well maintained beauty, probably at its peak.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
7/5/2023 - BottleScholar Likes this wine:
Delicious! Medium-plus body with a nice thick texture and blend of primary and tertiary notes. Producer consistently provides quality and aging in excess of its price. Enjoyable with complexity from age. High QPR.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/15/2023 - Ruubious wrote:
Decanted, drank over 2hr.
This is drinking well, but could use some time to open, no formal notes.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/10/2023 - classicalspin Likes this wine: 90 Points
Not what I was expecting -- I've never had an aged Crianza. Fresh, bright raspberry on an acidic beam enough at times to make you pucker. Some suggestion of berry fruit mid palate -- medium structure. I'll let the next bottle rest a few months and try it again.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/9/2023 - CheviotCellar wrote: 88 Points
Drinks young, no rush on these. Acid is pretty high, suggest pairing with spanish food
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/28/2022 - marcp Likes this wine: 87 Points
This is the third bottle I’ve had in the past four months. They were each quite different - same vintage so it’s a lot of bottle variation. One was mostly dark fruit (prune, plum, raisin) with little of the tertiary aromas you expect at this age. Perhaps overheated at some point. The last was somewhere between the other two. Such things happen when a wine gets old and none were “bad”. It’s still a great opportunity to try something older at an affordable price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/20/2022 - Rw59 Likes this wine: 92 Points
A long finish, soft resolved tannins, not overly complex but a very enjoyable wine with plenty of life left.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/4/2022 - Joelene wrote: 91 Points
Purfume and flowers on the nose. Medium bodied, no hard edges, some soft oak and resolved tannin present, some freshness and acid still. Muted fruit, mostly plums and strawberries. Some licorice and stone. Nice.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/20/2022 - Oliverl1 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted 2 hours which was sufficient. What a treat to drink a 22 year old wine for under $30! It is fully mature and really rather lovely. Very easy drinking! Nothing too extravagant but just a nice fully mature Rioja. The tannins are almost all resolved, there is some good acidity and still some life left! This to me is a classic example of an aged Rioja crianza.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/19/2022 - Wine Canuck wrote: 91 Points
This pours medium ruby in the glass with perhaps the faintest hint of bricking at the rim. On first pop the nose is quite reserved aromatically, but gradually opens up to moderate complexity and intensity showing dried strawberry, dried cherry, sage, bay leaf, touches of old cedar, and a whiff of tobacco. The palate enters on bright ripe dried strawberries turning to fine grained medium minus tannin and medium plus acid. The finish closes nicely on macerated blueberries and tobacco, lingering pleasantly. All in all this is a lovely little bottle of Rioja. Not showing quite the complexity I might expect from a better wine of similar age, but really no other apparent drawbacks either. Notably this is not really showing the overt Vanilla and Coconut I might expect from Rioja. Very enjoyable weekday night bottle and good value at $29 CAD.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
9/3/2022 - marcp Likes this wine: 94 Points
Medium bodied, higher acidity, tannins clearly softened a lot by the age. Dried strawberry, tart cherry. Tobacco, damp earth, walnut. Wonderful with Norwegian fjord trout.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/22/2022 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
– the grapes that they have are capable of aging. Because they have been making the wine that long, own the vineyards, are all enginers and built their own winery, and work as consultant for many other wineries in the 1980 – 2001, and because they sell off half their fruit, they can punch through to the nitch market of long aged wines. And his dad worked aas the director of the enological / techninncal regional authority.
This wine is a little bit longer… 15 months in oak, and then it went back to the tank, and then its spent the entire time in tank. This started because of the UK market wanting something between Crianza and Reserva. And its much easier to store the wine in large stainless steel tanks, which allows large volumes and keeping it fresh longer. And they discovered that because its not filtered or clarified it gets more stable and yet also doesn’t have sediments. And the Asian market doesn’t want any sediments. Apparently the Asian market really hates sediments. And they want very old things, don’t care if its expensive but don’t want sediments. So this they just bottle when the market demands it. At this point it could be labeled reserva but they don’t do that with this label. They start marketing the wines very slow.
Flowery and pretty on the nose, just a touch of the walnut but more flowery to it. Soft and flowery and perfumed on the palate. Strong streak of acidity running through it. Lively and fresh.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2)
8/20/2022 - Texas Oenophile wrote:
You can see the age in the color before you even nose it. But it’s still fresh and delish. Consumed with pork loin
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/12/2022 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Oak and walnut and cherry on the palate. And lively and fresh and oh so good. Darn its really good. Still fresh and really good.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/17/2022 - junetoaugust Likes this wine: 91 Points
Opened and enjoyed a glass night 1, but pumped down for the next night. Night 2 wine was lovely ruby red in the glass with a brownish hue edge, probably more youthful in appearance than expected. The first glass had a muted earthy nose with a damp forest type component. The second glass provided more tobacco and menthol giving way to notes of sweeter vanilla & toasted almonds. The palate is very mellow in intensity, perhaps not as smooth as I would have expected a bit more oak remaining. Flavors of dried red and black fruits with the sweetness hinting towards coconut and fig. The finish is lingering with pepper spices and continuing dried fruits, a fine aged wine.
.
Wine Making Notes: From 20 year old vines. Aged for 15 months in American oak casks, released early before reaching 'Reserva' status.
.
Bodegas Benito Urbina is situated in the town of Cuzcurrita de Rio Tiron in Rioja Alta. With 75 hectares in total - 65 of Tempranillo and 10 of Graziano, Mazuelo and Viura - and the estate has been in the family hands for 4 generations. They first bottled their own wines in 1975.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/3/2022 - nzinkgraf wrote:
Almost unsurprisingly, at pop n pour, a taster called this wine mediocre. Was elegant and complex then.
Now later at night, extraordinary with food. Dried red fruit aromas. Not too earthy, but still savory. Suave texture, smooth, plump, with all the crevices spackled. A ghostly floral aroma that comes and goes. A balsam edge to the nose. In no way herbal or American oak-y.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
4/23/2022 - JoeMe Likes this wine: 91 Points
Beautiful Port like nose, sweet spices, vanilla, dried cherry. Ripe plums, black currant, well integrated oak on the palate. Low tannins, low-medium body, a soft wine of feminine character. Well balanced and perfect introduction to aged wine at a very reasonable price. 90-91
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/1/2022 - Thefatbastard Likes this wine:
Encore une superbe bouteille. Mêmes commentaires que les notes précédentes. À ce prix, un Home-Run!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/6/2021 - RussK wrote: 91 Points
Russk. Brought after the Primo Sunrise blind tasting. $25P. Nice soft mature Rioja. Liked the 2004 Gran Riserva more. But this was almost as good for 1/2 the price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/8/2021 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 88 Points
Solid wine. Stewed fruit with slight oak influence.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/23/2021 - MS86 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Not everyday I get to try a 21 year old wine. This is at peak but has several years of life ahead. Medium ruby with subtle bricking at the rim.
Powerful, dense, oaky nose of chocolate, tobacco, cardamom, and a core of ripe plum and black cherry. Tertiary notes are yet to develop.
Palate shows fully resolved tannins, well integrated alcohol and full and persistent acidity.
Flavours are quite sweet with notes of milk chocolate, leather and ripe black fruit.
Good length.
At peak, drink to 2026.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/7/2021 - Dave Dewar Likes this wine:
I wasn't sure if this wine would still be good, but it absolutely was. P&P did not show much maturity, but day 2 did in spades. Excellent value at only $34 CAD. Drink or hold.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
8/22/2021 - Ruubious wrote:
Opened at 5, poured a small glass and left the bottle open.
served at 6:30 no decant, drank over three hours
Lovely aromas, good structure for a 20yo wine.
Really sold me on these wines. very enjoyable especially at this price
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/3/2021 - Tom Prior-Grice Likes this wine:
Reddish brown
N: M aromas of vanilla, prunes, cocoa and violets, not highly expressive on the nose
P: H acid, M+ grippy tannin, M alcohol (13.5), M body and expressive flavours jump from the glass. Very rich flavours of cocoa, dates, vanilla, blotted medlar, tobacco, American oak, salted meats, and some dried chilli flakes.
Beautiful, rich and expressive wine. Noticeably older and very secondary, fresh and with great acidity and body, I think it would make a truly excellent food wine. Maybe with a roast, or caserolle? Excellent for the price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/22/2021 - richshoes Likes this wine: 90 Points
Second time was better, more consistency, mellow soft tannins, medium bodied, dark cherry and cocoa profile
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/22/2021 - richshoes Likes this wine: 87 Points
First bottle was disappointing, nice medium bodied mellow structure but a little uneven flavor profile, at times too sweet and a fruit bomb, other times dark caramel port like qualities...but intellectually interesting for the price
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/4/2021 - Thefatbastard wrote:
21 ans vraiment... Nez sur le fruit noir (cerise noire), d'épices douces et de goudron. Fondu, encore sur les fruits noirs et les épices. Long, suave et merveilleusement équilibré même si pas nécessairement très complexe. Longue vie devant. À 34$ à la LCBO, une très rare aubaine incroyable!
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (4)
3/21/2021 - JGrice Likes this wine: 92 Points
Outstanding Rioja with great QPR.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/18/2020 - Thefatbastard Likes this wine:
Superbe nez très fruité de fruits noirs et cerise , très léger tabac, goudron. Attaque ample, fruité encore sur les fruits noirs, vanille. Long. Tanins et bois bien integre. Semble jeune! Longue vie devant.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment