A Tasting with Francisco Corpas from La Rioja Alta

The other week I got the chance to meet Francisco Corpas from La Rioja Alta and have a taste through their range of wines. La Rioja Alta, S.A. was originally founded in 1890 by five growers from the Basque and Rioja regions, in the Haro Station district of the north western corner of the Rioja region.

In 1988 they purchased and renovated the Lagar de Fornelos winery, which produces the Lagar de Cervera Albarino, 1989 saw them make the the decision to fund a new winery based in Ribera del Duero, Aster, then in 1995 saw the addition of the Torre de Ona winery, which is located in the heart of La Rioja Alavesa.

Their are many traditional aspects that they still employ throughout the whole group of wineries, they only use grapes that are grown on each estate, nothing is brought in. Originally they had their own coopers in the winery to produce their barrels, in 2002 they decided to re-establish this tradition and started shipping in wood from France and America, which they season over a two year period. They also still hand rack all the barrels every six months by candle light.

On to the wines;

2013 Lagar de Cervera
100% Albarino all from their own 100ha estate, where only 77ha is currently in production, the wine in the glass has a bright yellow colour with just a tinge of green to it. You these wonderful aromas apples and citrus which come through on the palate balanced with a lovely acidity which helps the flavours to linger on the palate that little bit longer. Have to say this is a great example of Albarino from Galicia, definitely worth trying.

2009 Aster Crianza
Produced from 100% Tinta del País (Tempranillo), the wine is aged in 100% French oak, 70% new barrels and 30% two year old barrels and bottled in July 2012, 50% was allowed to go through Malolactic fermentation giving it a slightly softer acidity. In the glass it had a deep ruby red colour, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit and spice. These came through on the palate with the spice separating out into Liquorice, Cedar and Mocha, it also had wonderfully fine and silky tannins and a lovely soft acidity which were all perfectly in balance with one another.

2009 Torre de Ona Reserva
This wine is a blend of 95% Tempranillo and 5% Mazuelo, it is aged for 24 months in 70% French oak (40% new barrels and 30% two year old barrels) and 30% Russian oak, the 70% in French oak was allowed to go through Malolactic fermentation, then a further 24 months in bottle. In the glass it had a bright ruby red colour, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit and spice. On the palate the spice again separated out into Liquorice, Cigar box and cedar with loads of dark fruit, cherries and blackberries. It had a lovely silky tannic structure and a soft acidity which again  just made your mouth water and help the flavours linger on the palate. I have to say this is a stunning wine.

2007 Vina Alberdi Reserva

100% Tempranillo which is fermented in stainless steel then aged for one year in new American oak and then a further year in 3 year old oak barrels before spending a further 24 months in bottle before release. In the glass you got this lovely bright ruby/cherry red colour, you got aromas of red berries and coffee with hint of balsamic coming through. These all came through on the palate with soft/silky tannins and a perfectly balanced amount of acidity, which again all go to produce another stunning wine.

2005 Vina Ardanza Reserva

Made from 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha, these are aged for three years in three year old american oak before blending and bottling. It had a ruby red colour in the glass with a slight garnet rim to it. You got these wonderful aromas of jammy dark fruit and spice. On the palate the spice was dominant with Pepper, Vanilla and a touch of balsamic, while through the dark fruit came through from the background. Again it had these wonderfully soft, silky tannins and a perfectly balanced acidity.

2004 Gran Reserva 904

This one is a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano, the wine as with all the others is allowed to go through Malolactic fermentation before ageing for four years in four year old American oak barrels, then a further 5 years in bottle. In the glass it has this deep cherry red colour with a garnet rim to it, on the nose it had an abundance of spice, balsamic and cocoa. These all came through of the palate with a touch of Vanilla added in, lovely tannins and a perfectly balanced acidity. The length of flavours just kept on going, depth and complexity of the flavours was just absolutely stunning, but you wouldn't expect anything else from a wine of this quality and price.

1998 Gran Reserva 890

This wine is only produced in exceptional vintages, roughly three out of every 10. It is a blend of 95% Tempranillo, 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo, and the vines are all a minimum of 40 years old. After Malolactic fermentation the wine is then aged for six years in American oak and then a further six in bottle. The cherry red colour wasn't as deep in this wine as the 904 and it had a much more orange rim to it. On the nose their were pronounced aromas of smoke, spice, leather, cocoa, tobacco and a touch of vanilla with some gentle, almost candied fruit coming through from the background. Again the tannins were silky and soft, and balanced out with a soft but plentiful acidity, the length of flavour was just amazing, as was the one, but you really wouldn't expect anything else from a wine of this quality that's aged for 12 years before it's released for sale.

I have to say it's hard to find my favourite wine out of all of these, the two Gran Reserva's, as they should be were absolutely stunning, but their not your everyday drinking wine, definitely for that special occasion. For me though I have to say my favourite was the 2009 Torre de Ona Reserva, but if I'm honest you can't wrong with any of their wines, they're definitely worth taking one or two of them home to enjoy. 

A Trip to Spain with Tesco

The guys from Tesco Wine very generously sent me one of there Spanish Celebration cases the other week, and for the price I have to say I was rather impressed, the case was 3 reds, 1 white, 1 rose and a sparking (Cava unsurprisingly) made up with 2 of each. The wines were, in no particular order;

2008 Marques de Monistrol Vintage Cava

Made from a blend of Xarello, Macabeo and Parellada, has plenty of citrus flavours and a tart acidity, was drinkable but not my favourite and not one that I would buy.

2006 Vina Albali Gran Reserva Selección Privada 

Produced from 100% Tempranillo and is then aged in American oak for 24 months, which helps this wine develop some amazing characteristics. In the glass it had a wonderfully deep ruby/garnet colour, with very pronounced, yet delicate aromas of sweet spices and leather notes, these came through on the palate with a touch dark fruit to round it out. I have to say I thought this wine was absolutely stunning.

2005 Gran Artizan Gran Reserva Monastrell Syrah

As the name says, this is a blend of Monastrell and Syrah and has spent 18 months in oak, and another couple of years in the cellar before being released. In the glass you got a deep red/purple colour, with aromas of dark fruits and peppery spice, these all came through on the palate. There was also a good amount of acidity and quite a lot of fine tannins. Personally I don’t think it was all quite in balance with everything.

2011 Faustino Rivero Rioja Blanco

I’ve never been the biggest fan of white Rioja, but I have to say I rather impressed with this one. It loads of apples and pears both on the aroma and on the palate, plenty of nice acidity to go with the fruit, helping to make it a very enjoyable drink, definitely a better alternative to Pinot Grigio.

2011 Faustino Rivero Rioja Rosado

This wine has quite a deep (for a rose) raspberry colour, with beautiful aromas of red berries, Strawberries and Cherries, these all came through on the palate, there was also a touch of sweetness, making this an off-dry wine. Again not my favourite style of rose, but was quite an enjoyable drink, and the others all enjoyed it.

2006 Lagunilla Rioja Reserva

This Rioja is a blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha, which helps to give it great depth and complexity of flavour. In the glass it had a deep ruby colour, with quite pronounced aromas of dark fruits and plums, these all came through on the palate with a touch of spice coming through from the background. Great acidity and lovely fine tannins all go to make a beautifully balanced and complex wine that I definitely enjoyed.

I have to say I was rather impressed with this case, there were some really good wines and when you actually work out the bottle price, £5.50 each, it works out at excellent value that I'd happily recommend.

A 2001 Rioja Reserva from Coto de Imaz

As you can see from the picture, this bottle had been hanging around in my wine rack for some time, which I have to say is rare for me. Originally it was a present from my wife to be, from a business trip to Spain that she’d been on, and I'd been saving for the right occasion, which just so happened before Christmas.

Produced from the Tempranillo grape in Rioja Alta region by the El Coto de Rioja winery, which was originally founded in 1970, it took them almost 5 years to release their first vintage. According to their website, the winery experienced spectacular growth during the 90's, to become a leading Bodega amongst the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin wines, and in 1997 it became the first Spanish winery group to be listed on the stock exchange.

The wine itself is vinified in stainless steel tanks, with up to 25 days maceration and pumping over to ensure the right balance between fruit and extraction, before spending 16 months in 225 litre new American oak barrels, followed by a further 3 year in bottle before being released.

In the glass it had a deep ruby colour, although at the edge you could see it turning a shade of orange from it’s age, on the nose you intense aromas of red berry fruit, but also spice such as vanilla coming through from the oak and it’s age,

On the palate these all came through beautifully, but with a complexity to them that was amazing, which was helped by the age of the wine, the tannin which fine and silky which just glided over your tongue and a tiny bit of acidity, just to help make your mouth water that little bit. The finish to this wine was just amazing and lingered around for ages, would I recommend this wine, absolutely, it was just delicious and enjoyable, I only wish the wife to be had bought more than one bottle home with her.

A Great Gran Reserva Rioja

Having said in my last post that I don’t drink much Rioja, I’ve had two bottles in quick succession to review, this one being a Gran Reserva, namely Marques de Carano Gran Reserva 2001.

Being a Gran Reserva, it has spent 24 months maturing in new oak barrels and a further 36 months in the bottle before being released. Unlike the last Rioja I reviewed this is a blend of the two most widely planted grapes in the region, Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache), this help to give the wine another dimension of flavours.

On pouring the first thing I noticed was that it was tawnier in colour than the last one, but much more opaque. On the nose I got the aromas of red berries again, Raspberries and Red Cherries predominantly, but they were not as pronounced, once you got through the fruit, there were these aromas of Spice, Vanilla, and Cedar which came from the oak. It had a good level of acidity and these wonderfully fine, silky tannins, which helped it to go on to be a wonderfully balanced and complex wine that was a thoroughly enjoyable drink.

Would I recommend this wine, yes I would, if you can still find it, I’ve been having a bit of trouble, but if you do, it would go fantastically with a roast such as lamb, or a rich meaty casserole!

A Fantastic 2004 Rioja Reserva

Rioja isn’t a wine I tend to drink very often, and I’m not really sure as to why, since they do produce some fantastic wines at very reasonably prices. Rioja is Spain’s leading wine producing region and can be found in the northwest of the country, the name is derived from the river (Rio) Oja, which is tributary to the Ebro which runs right through the heart of the region.

They produce Red, White and Rose wines under the Rioja DOC (Denominación de Origen Calificada), which can be a blend from any of the seven permitted varieties (four red, three white). It is then fermented in large stainless steal tanks and aged in new American or French oak. The time spent maturing in oak will determine how it’s classified, with Crianza and Reserva meaning it must have spent a minimum of twelve months in the barrel, Gran Reserva requiring a minimum of two years. There is another classification which is Joven, meaning the wine is unoaked; these however only apply to the reds.

The most widely planted red varieties are Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache), with Mazuelo (Carignon) and Graciano which are planted in much smaller quantities. You can use a blend of any of these or just use a single varietal to produce your wine.

Barón De Barbón 2004 Reserva is produced by Bodegas Muriel, and the first thing you can take from the label is the term Reserva, which means that it has spent a minimum of 12 months maturing in an oak barrel before being bottled. The back label however states that it has spent up to two years in both American and French oak; all the grapes are hand harvested to ensure the highest quality of fruit and most importantly is produced from 100% Tempranillo.

After opening the bottle I gave the cork a quick smell, as you do, and got the strangest of aromas, Smoky Bacon Crisps! In the glass you got a ruby colour at the centre of the glass with the edges starting to become tawnier, a sign of the ageing this wine has received. On the nose you got some really pronounced aromas of red berries, Strawberries, Raspberries and Red Cherries, with Cedar and Vanilla coming through in the background, which again came from the oak. On the palate you got all of these flavours which lingered in your mouth for ages, along with these you got wonderfully smooth and silky tannins and a good level of acidity. Combining all of these together you got a wonderfully balanced and outstanding wine, showing how a good Rioja can taste, which I would highly recommend to anyone.

Guia Real Rioja

I appear to have been drinking rather a lot of Rioja lately, though not by choice. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it seems to be the drink of choice of many of my friends! The wine in question this time is Guia Real Rioja, which can be bought from Virgin Wines.

The wine itself is not an extremely complicated one. The lack of any of the traditional Rioja terms such as Crianza and Reserva in it is due to the wine being left unoaked. The wine maker did have a reason for doing this though, to keep the wonderful fruit flavours of the Tempranillo.

A youthful wine, it has aromas and flavours of red fruit, cherries, and a tiny touch of spice in the background. It’s got a good balance between the flavours, acidity and low amount of tannins.

Recommendation: A good entry level Rioja, which makes it approachable to the masses.

Rioja's New Additions

The landscape of Spanish wine law in Rioja is on the move again (http://www.decanter.com/news/283815.html), with the Riojan government about to authorise a set of new varieties, following the other weeks approval by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and the Rioja Consejo Regulador. The new white varieties are Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Verdejo along with the native varieties of Maturana Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco and Turruntés. As for the red varieties the additions are little known Maturana Tinta, Maturana Parda and Monestel.

With the new international white varieties, they cannot exceed 49% of the blend with a minimum of 51% Viura, the aim of this according to Ricardo Aguiriano San Vincente, director of marketing for Rioja's Consejo Regulador, is to make Viura more fruity and fresh, which according to him is what the consumers want!

What is the point in having all this complicated European wine law, which is designed to protect regionality and heritage of the local wines, when all they do is change them when a regions wine sales begin to struggle. If producers want to introduce new varieties into their blends then they should do so with the loss of the quality status, as was seen in Italy with the introduction of the “Super Tuscans”.