Best Value Entry Level Rioja

[mmarcellus]

Hermanos Pecina would probably be my choice. I like them much better than the others that fall in their price range. I could go either way on whether the LdH Cubillo is a better value at a price 50%+ higher. However, you really want to give LdH some additional time, which maybe disqualifies it from the “entry level” category.

I’ve liked all the Pecina wines I’ve had, but availability hasn’t been great in my local market, so they’ve kind of dropped off my radar. Thanks for the reminder, though – I should look around again, maybe availability has improved.

Wine.com carries them, and it looks like your state actually has more than mine at the moment. Check out the coupon/discount thread for some codes that will make the prices even more attractive.

[jnbrown]

Not on the list, but 2015 LRH Vina Alberdi knocks it out of the park for me.

[Arv_R]

Hermanos Pecina would probably be my choice. I like them much better than the others that fall in their price range. I could go either way on whether the LdH Cubillo is a better value at a price 50%+ higher. However, you really want to give LdH some additional time, which maybe disqualifies it from the “entry level” category.

I’ve liked all the Pecina wines I’ve had, but availability hasn’t been great in my local market, so they’ve kind of dropped off my radar. Thanks for the reminder, though – I should look around again, maybe availability has improved.

Pecina is definitely good, even in cooler/leaner/lighter vintages, and availability is sort of improving…but one definitely has to hunt around for it and assume one will have to mail order it.

Most of the names in the poll have the benefit of being available in Costco, TW, BevMo, liquorstores/supermarkets - which has some merit too. I’m traveling currently and there aren’t any fine wine stores near me…

[IlkkaL]

And an addiction to polls.

What’s with all the abuse today? Stay out of my threads if you’ve got nothing nice to say.

The polls are to bring a bunch of choices down to one. I have spread them out so as not to not inundate the board with them.

There’s no accounting for assholes on this board.

Bye bye foes.

I don’t have anything nicer to say than what the 2 responders posted. But, man, you gotta chill. This is just a board on fermented grape juice!

+1

[Ian_S]

And an addiction to polls.

What’s with all the abuse today? Stay out of my threads if you’ve got nothing nice to say.

The polls are to bring a bunch of choices down to one. I have spread them out so as not to not inundate the board with them.

There’s no accounting for assholes on this board.

Bye bye foes.

Wow. I was doing what I thought was some gentle teasing and get called an *sshole.

This community is full of information and kindness and generosity. Also humor and we often poke fun at each other. I encourage you to open yourself up to that side of back and forth as well. It will help you feel a part of things.

In the spirit of exactly that, I apologize for hurting your feelings. I should have included a winky face to make the tone more clear.

Happy Holidays.

James must be one of those sensitive types who fancies a participation trophy and can’t take any needling.

…and I’m not including a winky - James can go right on calling me an arsehole all he desires!

[James_Billy]

I will make a note here that Faustino Montecillo and LRA Alberdi have received 2 postal votes and as counting hasn’t finished, they may be added to the votes (subject to a decision from the Supreme Court )

Montecillo is crazy QPR. I think part of what some people might be objecting to about this thread is that you took a handful of posts from another thread and then made a poll here based on a really incomplete assessment of the options. So the poll isn’t meaningful. And even if you had included, say, the 10 top picks for great-QPR Rioja from a broad initial survey, what are the chances that most people reading the thread would have tried them all? So some people would just select what they have had and liked without making the comparison.

There are so many great QPRs in Rioja that crowning one the greatest is unrealistic and unproductive, in my opinion.

Thanks for your contributions. It’s just a thread not to be taken too seriously. Not scientific in any way

[James_Billy]

CVNE crianza $10

Main thread updated.

Thanks for all your Rioja recommendations!!!

[John_Kight]

CVNE crianza $10

Main thread updated.

Thanks for all your Rioja recommendations!!!

Now we need to identify the best value Rioja Reserva (maybe anything under $25?) and Rioja Gran Reserva (maybe under $45?). I realize some people may object to $25 or $45 wines being referred to as “value” wines…but relative to their respective categories I think the term is acceptable…

[andrewkao]

The Kirkland Signature Rioja Reserva is darn solid at $8-10. Can probably get better Rioja at the $25+ range but Kirkland would be my pick for “entry level”

[John_Kight]

The Kirkland Signature Rioja Reserva is darn solid at $8-10. Can probably get better Rioja at the $25+ range but Kirkland would be my pick for “entry level”

Yes, that has been a good one year after year…I often buy that (and also the Kirkland Chianti Classico Riserva) to use as “Cooking wines that I can also actually drink (while I’m cooking).” That’s a rare combination–it’s hard enough to find wine that’s both good enough and cheap enough to cook with…let alone one that I can actually drink! And the Rioja has (at least in some recent vintages) been as low as $6.99 and $7.99…

Update: Just found this on “reversewinesnob.com”:

“The Kirkland Signature Rioja Reserva is available exclusively at Costco for $7.99 ($1 more than previous vintages). It is bottled by Bodegas Eguia and imported by Quintessential, LLC”

Ironically, from the image of the Eguia Reserva bottling, I’m 90% sure I’ve seen that one at Costo as well from time. It would be funny if they carried two identical wines, one at $7.99 and one at $16.99(ish…if memory serves).

[James_Billy]

CVNE crianza $10

Main thread updated.

Thanks for all your Rioja recommendations!!!

Now we need to identify the best value Rioja Reserva (maybe anything under $25?) and Rioja Gran Reserva (maybe under $45?). I realize some people may object to $25 or $45 wines being referred to as “value” wines…but relative to their respective categories I think the term is acceptable…

John, great idea. I’ll let you start new threads for those if you wish. I’ve spent a lot of time on the Legendary Value and Bottom Feeder threads and their numerous offshoots which I still have a few more to go. I’ll have a break after that.

[Scott_G_r_u_n_e_r]

The Muga Reserva for $20 would get my vote today, but I actually cut my teeth on the Marques de Cacera and the LAN. Though I tended to mostly troll the Reserva level as in most years the difference was worth the small price increase.

[Arv_R]

This 2015 Milenrama ‘Reserva’ [Rioja] is a – self described according to the website – value selection from the Skurnik portfolio. I picked it up in New England a few years ago and have not seen it in my region, or at least not in obvious locations. The project is new and the leader has held various roles in the hospitality industry as well as academia and wine making, but the wine is made in a traditional style, with typical methods - hand harvesting, higher altitude older vines from La Rioja sites, French/American elevage etc. Sometimes the label styles in a region can be a cue to what’s in the bottle, and even though it appears to be a modern/fresh label, it’s not an internationalist Rioja. I found this 14% abv (stated, more on that later) pure tempranillo to be heavy on the balsalmic and soy on the first day, but rounded out to more classic flavors on the second day. Over three days it drank best on the second, so I would suggest some decanting, or a few more years sideways. The natural cork has hardly soaked up any color.

Perhaps because this was a value project – it was a sawbuck reserva after all – neither the front label, back label, capsule, nor cork states the vintage instead just relying on the small Consejo Regulador sticker appended when the fees are paid to demarc the year. It’s unlikely consumers of this will be vintage specific, but given that it seems like it can keep, buyers might want to keep that in mind if they are buying it via mail order – I could see a warehouse easily missing that. I’m also guessing that generic label means the stated 14% abv is also utilizing the full legal wiggle room for +/- tolerances as well, so who knows what this really is.

I don’t expect to see or hear of it much but would not have any hesitation recommending this plummy example, slotting it into that B+/A- zone depending on how much one liked the year. Professional reviews, as well as Cellartracker comments, are scant.