2011 Bodegas Montecillo Rioja Gran Reserva Winemaker Selection

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 89 points

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  7/15/2022 - Snoot Doggie Dogg Likes this wine: 88 Points

  I fell in love with Rioja when I was working in Spain several years ago; it always impressed me how you can get a such a tasty, food-friendly wine for such a low price in the form of a good Rioja. This particular specimen was aged for two years in French oak barrels before spending 40 additional months in bottle before release.
  
  Medium ruby in color with a transparent core, this offering is moderately aromatic with a nose of tart cherry, tobacco leaf, black pepper, forest floor, and some herbaceousness. Upon sipping, one is met with a medium-bodied wine with moderate tannins and moderately high acidity. The attack exhibits soft, fresh cherry and an ephemeral hint of cranberry, but once the midpalate emerges this cherry becomes rather tart and is accompanied by cracked black pepper, dried herbs, and cocoa powder with some oaky vanilla in background. The finish is dry and modest in length, starting off with a bit of pepper, followed by tart cherry that gradually fades away into a lingering tannic dryness.
  
  A decent Rioja, though I’ve had much better. Not quite as concentrated as I would like, and the fruit is limited to tart cherry and nothing else. Not bad, but not one to write home about. A bit overpriced, I could see this fetching $15-20, not $35.

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  3/3/2022 - bayareadodgerfan Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Nice Rioja. Tried this as part of an open label tasting of a crianza, reserva and gran reserva comparison from same producer. This gran reserva was very nice. After 45 min in the glass, lots of strawberry and cherry notes with oak and vanilla as well as chocolate from bottle age. Med acid, med body and med tannin with a fairly long finish. Nice bottle of wine (much more balanced and flavorful than the crianza or reserva from same producer).

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