Folks, just had a beautiful 2001 La Rioja Alta 904 last night and I realize I’ve never done a side by side tasting of good riojas and it’s hard to judge QPR (besides “generally very good”). Other than LdH, which I know is awesome, what producers would you recommend stocking up on, and how would you describe their style?
Looking specifically at GR bottlings from:
CUNE Imperial
CUNE Real
La Rioja Alta 904
Faustino
Ygay
Prado Enea
Riojana
Artadi
Riscal
Caceres
Montecillo
Am looking at 2001 and future GR’s btw, but always eager to see what people of thought of these as they age!
Having done many dozens of the tastings you describe over the years, I’ll say that Artadi doesn’t fit into that lineup. Caceres is a much newer bodega than the others. Reliable but doesn’t quite reach the same level. A good choice if you’re in a restaurant. Monticello is an older bodega, owned by the Osborne family since the mid 1970s and much beloved of the Wine Spectator. Not really in the same league though. Faustino is uneven at best. Prado Enea is Muga, so try their other wines too.
You can distinguish them blind because Muga has a funk, even a stink to many of the wines, LdH is full of VA and mushroom, CVNE Imperial has a silky quality, Alta always tastes like coconut, Ygay has the least fruit as compared to the oak and tannins and acidity, Monticello is similar except the elements just don’t work together as well, Faustino is usually the worst in the lineup, Caceres is smooth and lacks the same level of funk that some of the others have, perhaps a legacy of Rolland’s touch, Riscal and Riojanas are harder to pick out and are often among the best in show.
There are plenty of threads on this subject though.
My preferences in Rioja run very “old school”, so that colors my recommendations. Drink way more Bosconia & Tondonia that any other producers, but do dabble in other Rioja sometimes.
Of your list above, I would give highest recommendations to CUNE, La Rioja Alta, and Ygay (Murrieta). From CUNE, I almost always prefer Imperial to Real (Imperials run more to my style preference). From La Rioja Alta, have enjoyed both the 904s and the 890s. Not too long ago, had a '70 Ygay that could have hung in there right with any of the early '70s RLdH GRs. I find Artadi and Caceres too modern-style, and am sad to see Muga apparently heading further in that direction all the time. I think Riscal has great potential, but usually underperforms. A few years ago, I came across a close-out of '80s/'90s vintages of Monticello at a local Grocery Outlet, of all places. Took a flyer on some, not expecting much (they were at about $20/bottle). While not in the same league as the above, they were way above my expectation.
Michael
My answer: Yes.
You have a list, try them and see the differences. I’ve had them all at some point or other and liked them for what they are. Others have chimed in with their opinions. I’ll only add that I feel 1980’s Montecillo were pretty good and then they ‘weakened the batch’ afterwards. Riojanas can seem dillute and ‘old’, even when they are young, but they can be like a whisper of a wine, which I happen to like. We had a Gran Reserva Rioja tasting recently, and I was a bit shocked at how modern feeling the 2001 Ygay GR Especial was, which didn’t mirror my experiences of this with vintages from the 80’s.
Agree with Michael. Have had nice bottles of prado enea as well, but is a more modern style
Baron de Ley has some nice 01 and 04 Gran Reservas out now. Their style is pretty much down the middle, if a little traditional-leaning.
What a wonderful summary.
Faustino can be uneven, but the 01 GR is quite good, and their lower level wines offer quaffable values.
You know it’s a good vintage when Faustino makes a really good wine. 2001 being a case in point. Some of their older wines as well.
I’ve been sipping a 2012 Marques de Caceres ‘Gran Reserva’ [Rioja] over the last 3 days, in a variety of stems. For what its worth, I liked it best out of a medium sized Burgundy bowl. This producer is widely available - from the same ownership group as the Medoc, Larose Trintaudon - but one tends to see the lower level crianza and reservas in the mass market more than their flagship. They don’t declare/release a GR every vintage, and even then, not all retailers will resupply. For example my local wine shop only carried 2010 and 2012, passing on 2011, while 2013 was not released. This is a medium bodied, hand harvested 14.5% abv tempranillo, that gets 5 years of aging between cask and bottle before release. The color is a dark ruby, which feels like it has at least a decade of development ahead of it. The nose doesn’t show (label specified Franch) oak to me, and the palate is on the red fruited side. Once upon a time, MdC was considered a fruity/modern producer, but considering all the changes in the DOC over the decades, I’d consider them now more a middle of the road bodega - not too savory/lean/tart nor not too big, hot, jammy, jacked etc. These wines are more ‘safe bets’ when traveling or dining out, rather than worth a rack slot at home, but are enjoyable and true to what my expectation of the region is: good acidity, balanced fruit, resolved/low tannin, and prices that are midweek friendly. It get’s a B+ in my ledger and I’ve got another bottle for 5 or 10 years down the road. 2012 was a vintage I passed on in the region, maybe excluding isolated examples like this. I hope the untasted 2010’s are better though as this was a touch underwhelming. It’s hard to truly recommend Caceres to WB’s, although it’s a producer I think Rioja enthusiasts should at least be familiar with.
It did improve with air, along with pairing with potato pancakes plus strip steaks, so perhaps the next time I comment I’ll be more enthused.
