Travelling around Rioja

Our trip to Rioja

I thought it would be fun to share with the group notes from the tastings we did on our recent trip to Rioja.

Unlike in Napa, in Northern Rioja (actually Southern Basque Country but within the Rioja wine appellation) you can’t just show up for a tasting – you need to book in advance a tour of the winery, which ends with a generous wine glugging (2+ full glasses of wine). We therefore only tried a few wines at the wineries, and then a couple of others at dinner etc.

There are several ‘ages’ of red wines in Rioja:

· Young wine: Bottled directly or stored less than 1 year in barrels

· Crianza: Stored for 1 year in barrels, 2 months in bottle

· Reserva: Stored for 3 years, at least 1 of which in barrels

· Gran Reserva: Stored for 5 years, at least 2 of which in barrels

Here in descending order are our favorites…

1) Pujanza 2004 Crianza (9/10): This was one of the first we tasted so may have a biased read, but for a youngish wine it had a great plumy chocolately smell and strong rich thick taste (like good expresso). Would be great with a hearty steak. Tasted in a ‘tasting shop’ in Laguardia as the winery does not do tours.

2) Ysios 2001 Reserva (9/10): Very different to the Pujanza. Oaky aroma with undercurrants of red fruit. Very smooth velvety taste – a sophisticated wine! Apparently 2001 was the ‘best year ever’ for Rioja wines’. Tasted at their winery – small boutique winery with 70 hectares and a very cool building, part of the Domecq Group. Cost per bottle at the winery = 12 Euro.

3) Vina Albina Rva 2000 (8.5/10): Tasted great, but can’t remember the subtleties! Tasted at Karl and Laura’s wedding in San Sebastian, so could have been influenced by the ambiance and Michelin-star chef!

4) Marques de Riscal 2002 Reserva (8/10): Typical ‘Rioja’ flavors, very rich and chocolately, slightly treacly. Still a little astringent – could do with a few more years in the bottle before drinking. Very rich – one glass was enough. Tasted at the winery – a huge operation with 200 hectares of their own and total production of 1500 hectares. Impressive place with the super-expensive Gehry-designed hotel on site. Cost per bottle at the winery = 12 Euro.

5) Trujalero 2003 (7.5/10): Very drinkable table wine – would be great with pasta or pizza. Tasted in a ‘tasting shop’ in Laguardia.

6) Fabulista Decidido 2004 (4/10): Pretty rough! Some fruit including blackberries in the smell, but tasted quite astringent and a bit dry. Tasted at the winery – a very small operation in the old town of Laguardia making wine by traditional methods including crushing by feet, storing in very humid mouldy cellars, etc. Great experience, not so great wine!

We also had at dinner a Muga (very good, but hard to judge as was served in pint glasses on the beach), and a Campillo (again very tasty but can’t remember details). We tried valiantly to visit the Muga winery but they only had tours at the ungodly hour of 10am (and we were having trouble getting out of bed before midday given the jetlag). We stopped by to see the winery and they said we could buy wine but not taste it on the premises – I am guessing they make their money from international distribution not local tourism!

Finally we also had a tasty white Rueda 2006 from the Marques de Riscal – fruity fresh pineappley/peachy and only $6 a bottle at the winery. Had some of the richness of a chardonnay without the oily/buttery/oaky flavour.

Hope this helps if anyone plans on visiting the region – we had a great time. It is truly beautiful countryside and great for biking (though very hilly), touring around lots of lovely old villages and enjoying plenty of good Spanish food.

Emma and Huck