I have been meaning to try this Rioja wine for some time and in the last week I have tried it in two vintages.  Both were impressive, but the 2007 could use a little more time in bottle to achieve a better balance.  Predicador is the inexpensive wine that Benjamin Romeo brought onto the market in 2005.  Benjamin Rome is a cult winemaker in Rioja and is responsible for such amazing wines as Contador, La Cueva de Contador, La Viña de Andrés, all priced 80 euros or higher.  Benjamin Romeo also offers one of Spain’s most unique whites, Que Bonito Cacareaba, which retails for about 35€.  The story behind the name is funny…it translates as “How wonderfully it crowed.”  Seems strange but originally it was called Gallo canto or “Cock crows”, but obviously Gallo in Spanish is spelled the same as the famous winery Gallo.  Need I say more….so Benjamin killed off the Gallo and in memoriam named the wine Que Bonito Cacareaba!  Love it and love the wine.  The Predicador is less intense and simpler than it’s pricy big brother, but it offers a lot of bang for the buck at only about 19€.   It is an intense, sweet fruit, fresh modern Rioja with great oak integration and a long finish.  The 2006 has the edge for me right now…much smoother.  The 2007 is delicious, but the tannins are a bit tight still.     It really a pleasure to drink a good value wine from this unique and creative winemaker.  Read on for more details on Predicador.  

Roda Reserva 2004 from Rioja is the wine I have consumed most over the past year.  I love to change the wines I put in my tastings constantly….otherwise I get bored!  The Roda, however, has been the exception…it is the consistently the favorite wine in my line-ups of eight wines from all over Spain.  The 2004 vintage, which is really structured, has only been getting better over the months…I’m dreading the day they come out with the 2005…it’s a very nice wine, but it will take a year to get to where the 2004 is now.  This wine is a firmly modern Rioja with only 16 months in new French oak.  The special thing about it is that perfect balance it has between sweet red fruit, fresh Rioja acidity, perfectly integrated oak and firm, yet ripe tannins.  It is so youthful, with many years ahead, but so easy to drink now.  It is really good value at 20-22€ retail in Madrid. It is the all round wine, a wine that please all types and nationalities of wine drinkers.  I serve it so much I do get burned out on Roda but I can’t stop serving it!  Read on for more details on the wine.

A couple of really interesting articles at Market Watch and at Decanter in the last week really gave some insights into how Spanish wine is performing in the current crisis market.  According to Market Watch, Spanish imports are performing better than average in the US wine market, and particularly when you compare their numbers to other major European wine exporters such as French, Italy and Germany.   The value of Spanish table wines increased 5% in 2008 while cava imports performed even better at 9%….obviously cava is good recession alternative to Champagne!  The Decanter article addresses the situation in the UK market, Spanish wines declined in volume by 3% but remained stable in value.  Hopefully this shows that UK and US consumers that Spanish wines offer great value at very inexpensive price points, but also at higher price points.   It’s great to see Spanish wines performing so well in this difficult market…certainly the quality and value of the product on offer merits the recognition of the consumer.  The Decanter article’s main theme was that Rioja imports had declined as compared to their rival regions.  Just as interesting is the comment posted by the UK office of Wines from Rioja, denying any slump in Rioja sales in the UK!  Decanter doesn’t provide any assessment of Rioja’s decline, but I have been thinking of a few.  Read on for some more thoughts….

When I arrived in Spain over 6 years ago, Robert Parker and his team were just starting to pay attention to the wines in a big way.  Since then I have seen awareness of him take off in the wine sector…frequently these days, winery professionals talk about the ratings they’ve received from the Wine Advocate.  I often ask my groups of wine tasters if they’ve heard of Robert Parker, and though many of the foreigners have, very few of the Spanish groups have. The concept of wine ratings still hasn’t really filtered down to the typical Spanish wine consumer…he or she still rely on the recommendations of family, friends, or their local wine merchant.  There are quite a few wine guides and magazines in Spain that rate wines, but ratings are a tool that is just starting to be used as a marketing tool by wineries, distributors and wine merchants. 

It’s often a challenge to find a great wine from Rioja at a great price.  One of my favourite producers is Finca Valpiedra, a winery that has only ever offered a single reserva wine.  Finca Valpiedra is a great reserva that is a hybrid between modern and traditional styles, a style that can appeal to every wine aficionado!  It has a slightly longish oak aging time, 18-22 months, but largely in new French oak.  The fruit has all the bright exuberance of a modern Rioja yet has the silky texture and elegance of a more traditional reserva.  Love the current 2004 vintage, but at around 20€, it’s not for everyday drinking.

Rioja Vino de Autor in Two Vintages:  San Vicente 2003 and 2004

Vintage Variation in Spain is not as extreme as it is in more northern climates, but it obviously still has a very real impact.  I was fortunate to try one of my favourite Vinos de Autor in two very different vintages. 

San Vicente was one of the original Vinos de Autor in Rioja, leading the way to the modern starting in 1991.  This was the first vine de terruño or terroir…a single vineyard wine made from the “ideal” vineyard as envisioned by the winemakers, the Eguren family.  As such it has become an icon and remaisn so today, despite the multiple vinos de autor that have proliferated recently.

The Gran Reserva is almost exclusively a classic style in Rioja….most of these wines have over 30 months in oak, many as much as 48 months!   National wine law in Spain has changed…the minimum oak aging for a gran reserva is 18 months, though the total time before release remains 5 years.  But many of the regional authorities have left the minimum oak aging period at 24 months.  In any case the typical aging periods far exceed the minimum. 

Now we move on to the Reservas, both in the 18 euro price range.  Once again I picked a true classic bodega, La Rioja Alta and a fully modern one; Palacios Remondo. 

At the crianza level there is usually enough fruit in both classic and modern to satisfy the majority of palates, but at the reserva level the disparity in styles becomes more acute. 

The next pair of wines in my Rioja class was two crianzas, one in a classic style and one in a modern style, both in the 10-12 euro range. 

The Rioja style issue is a favourite theme for me to bring out in my tastings.  Many typical wine-drinkers are unaware of the stylistic differences that lie hidden in Rioja.  These comparisons of different Rioja style are some of the most revelatory tastings I hold…some clients are astonished at the difference.

I’ve been doing a course with a great group…looking more in depth at Spanish red wines.  Our first week was Rioja and we made some interesting discoveries.  It was a great opportunity to further explore the fascinating topic of classic and modern Rioja styles.

The most unique and fascinating wine was probably the 1955 Paternina Reserva…a wine that had no information on the label at all.  I had done some research and found some recent tasting notes on the 1955 from a vertical Paternina tasting.  The most fascinating piece of information I could discover was that in the early 50’s the Paternina wines had a metallic taste to them that was caused by the use of copper pipes in the winery.  These were changed out in 1956!

This is a subject that I can’t avoid….Rioja and its various styles…I love it! I’ve had a few comments saying that I’ve been unfair to classic Rioja and perhaps I have. Some have said that long barrel aging does not kill fruit flavors, but enhances them…this I have to disagree with. Classic Riojas are not fruit-driven wines…they have many characteristics that make them attractive but the fruit is often oxidized and faded. The bottom line for me is that I appreciate all the various styles that Rioja has to offer today, but I think it is a disservice to the consumer that you have no idea of what style you might get…especially at the reserva level….maybe style should be indicated on the label. I think having so many styles that are not indicated on the label is also a disservice to Rioja as well…it’s hard to project a coherent wine image.

Somewhat of a sensational title…but there are many Riojas I just don’t get!

1. Traditional Riojas: Long oak aging in older barrels, higher acidity, lower alcohol.

I can appreciate the last two, but the first one just kills all the fruit in the wine. The type of wood notes it gives are both overwhelming and unpleasant. The best ones can be attractive in an elegant, mellow sort of way. Most are just thin and unpleasant.

Lately I tasted one of the most popular Riojas in the world: Marques de Caceres Crianza 2003.

We usually bring the wine when we go to Miguel’s family’s house. This time we brought a Gran Elias Mora, a blockbuster wine from Toro. While it was aerating in the decanter, Uncle Constancio offered up an older Rioja. We cleaned out a bunch of old Riojas at Christmas…most of them were way gone…so naturally I was a little dubious.
However this wine is a top end single-vineyard wine from a bodega I know well. It’s also from 1996, not as old at the over-the-hill 92s I was drinking over the holidays.
A pet peeve of mine is that people often keep their wines too long…it seems the word reserve on the label encourages it. The beauty of the traditional reserva system in Spain is that the winery doesn’t release the wine for many years. It is already ready to drink upon release…yes you can keep a reserve for many more years….but it is only the absolute top wines that are drinking well ten years on.
This wine was still drinking well ten years on! It was fading a little, but still ahd lots of elegant, delicate fruit left. It was a pleasant surprise….