Spanish wine. Anyone drank a good one lately?

[Branson_G_Ropp]

1997 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904

Bought 6 of these on a long term pre arrival for a pretty solid price. 1997 is my birth year and I’ve always been a fan of Rioja and heard plenty of good things about how these can age. My previous experience with 904 were the 2005 and 2015 vintages. 2005 was in a nice sweet spot and the 2015 was still very primary with loads of oak (to be expected)

Surprisingly light and vibrant. Ruby core with orange bricking around the edge. Dusty sour cherry, pomegranate and leather. Showing beautifully well with plenty of life left! (95 Pts)

From what I recall about the 2005 and 2015 this wine has absolutely transformed with a bit more age. The color was getting lighter and mid palate was so acid driven rather than being dominated by oak. The finish went on forever!

[Ramon_C]

@Branson_G_Ropp

1997 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904

Bought 6 of these on a long term pre arrival for a pretty solid price. 1997 is my birth year and I’ve always been a fan of Rioja …

LRAs are some of the best Riojan reds to age. It’ll be a fun ride to space out drinking that 6-bottle purchase over a long period.

[Magno_Gonzalez]

100% verdejo, producer located in Castilla y Leon.
Saline, mineral, i like it.

[Kent_Comley]

This is a super wine. Good density, but never heavy! Lovely ripe fruit and developing complexity, with plenty in the tank.

[Gobindjit_S_Dhaliwal]

Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco 1968

From an exceptional bottle, aromatically complex with candied lemon, orange bitters, dried peach and honey interwoven with dried chamomile, resin, mushroom broth and wet stone. Medium + in structure, with a creamy texture. Sharp flavors of candied citrus and stone fruits and an intensely mineral driven mid-palate with notes of Angostura bitters, roasted nuts and balsamic hints, supported by pronounced acidity. Exceptionally long with lingering umami notes, and a delicate oxidative nuance.

[Max_S1]

That color though…

[Noah_C]

Invite me next time please.

[Ramon_C]

2025 Bodegas Palacio del Fefiñanes Albariño De Fefinañes, Rias Baixas

Deep mineral, appropriately ripened fruit with tropical notes, herb, some salinity. A cool-climate, stainless steel fermented, solid albariño from the Galician coastal town of Cambados, one that’s fondly memorable to me.

[I.S_a_n_c_h_e_z]

Siglo Crianza 1970

Tawny/brick, with no red or purple to speak of. Fairly pale, with a watery rim.

Nose: Fully oxidative, closer to a Pedro Ximénez or Madeira than a Rioja. No fruit apart from prunes and a hint of orange peel.

Palate: Little tannin and bright acidity, with alcohol barely noticeable. Dried fruit and a touch of vanilla. Finish is relatively long. More body than expected.

Remarkably intact for a 55-year-old budget crianza that had suffered unknowable abuse in a hot cabinet at my grandparent’s (seriously - check out the terrible full!).

Condado de Haza Crianza 2009

Much more structured than the Siglo, and still relatively youthful at around 16 years.

Nose: Plenty of tertiary notes to accompany dark ripe fruits: cellar funk, tobacco and cedar.

Palate: Dried dark fruit with a touch of oxidation. In the finish you can tell that it is a crianza - where a reserva would still be fully sound here, this has a light sour streak.

Finca de los Locos 2024

Intense, brilliant purple, very opaque.

Nose: Dark cherry and date. A touch of dairy or yogurt from malolactic fermentation, with plenty of red and dark fruit.

Palate: Present but soft tannins, with enough acidity for freshness. Alcohol (about 14%) is well hidden. Very long finish, around 35 seconds. Lots of cherry, from red to dark and from very ripe to less ripe, always fresh. Fairly spicy, with a hint of vanilla from the oak.

Surprising single-vineyard modern Rioja from a 1981 plot in Baños de Ebro. It’s mostly Tempranillo with Graciano and a little Viura, and is organically farmed.

Artuke 2025

More red-fruited than its bigger single-vineyard sibling, Finca de los Locos. The absence of oak is apparent, with great fruit purity throughout. A bit of lactic character on the palate, otherwise very red-fruited and crunchy. Excellent for what it is: uncomplicated and tasty.

[I.S_a_n_c_h_e_z]

Two modern light Spanish reds with some burgundy thrown in for good measure.

Rico Nuevo 2022
Light Garnacha from the Sierra de Gredos, and very much in the current Madrid/Gredos style. Juanan Martín, a protégé of Dani Landi, started it in 2018, using his family’s old vineyards on granite soils at around 1,000 metres. The style favors freshness and perfume over power, with tart, crunchy red fruit, a touch of white pepper and earth, fine tannins and bright acidity. It’s a very representative bottle for what’s happening in the region right now.

Sincronía
From Mesquida Mora in Mallorca was the more engaging wine. Bàrbara Mesquida Mora’s entry-level red is a biodynamically farmed blend of native and international varieties (Callet, Mantonegro and Monastrell among them), aged six months in older French and American oak. A saline note ran alongside crisp, ripe red fruit, which gave it a real sense of place. It was super pretty, and it definitely felt like an island wine.

Pommard Les Noizons 2020
Thrown in to have something to talk about after we had finished eating, this felt like a bruiser next to the prior two, though it was thoroughly and understandably in a different league. The tannins were silken, the texture velvety, and the nose intoxicating. It was the clear standout of the three, if not the most playful.

[I.S_a_n_c_h_e_z]

And finally Matarromera Reserva 2015 (from magnum). Plush, polished Ribera del Duero. The fruit is ripe and dark: blackberry, plum and black cherry, wrapped in sweet oak, vanilla, cocoa, tobacco and a little cedar. The palate is full-bodied and round, with velvety tannins, enough acidity to keep it balanced and a smooth, moderately long finish. After drinking a lot of Matarromera lately (2015, 2020, 2022), I’d call it Spain’s answer to a Silver Oak Cab. It’s perfect for a steakhouse and a crowd, generous and easy to love but nothing you need to think about too much.

Laherte Frères Empreintes 2018 Millésime
Stellar as always. Crisp and precise, with a chalky, mineral spine and a bright citrus core of lemon zest, grapefruit pith and green apple. Toasty notes of brioche and roasted nuts undercut the freshness, adding depth without weight. The finish is long, saline and clean.

[Eric_K]

ive had 2 different vintages of the non reserva recently and they were phenomenal. One was 2020 the other was 2015 or 2016 i forget. Oak was in the backseat to the lovely spicy oxidative fruit character

[Gobindjit_S_Dhaliwal]

A selection of wines from Roda, sourced directly from the winery almost a decade ago with impeccable provenance. Funny how these were considered “modern” or “alta expresión” in their time, but have now started to mature into a much more traditional profile, except for the Cirsion.

Roda I Reserva 1994
Fully mature and singing. Still very much alive. Dried cherry, plum, tobacco, cedar, leather and a balsamic hint. Silky texture, with fine acidity, savory meaty nuances and exotic spices. Elegant rather than powerful.

Roda I Reserva 1995
A bit more structured. Black cherry, dried red fruit, cigar box, spice and earthy notes, with a nice hint of roasted meat. A bit more tannic, but with great fruit, a balsamic edge, fine acidity and a polished finish.

Roda I Reserva 1996
The odd one, but Roda had made it clear since release: it has Brett. Too much for Roda’s standards, of course, but in my opinion it actually added character. This by far seemed the most aged Bordeaux like of the three. There is good fruit underneath, dark cherry, plum, tobacco and spices but you also get that unmistakable barnyard and leathery character. Delicious and fresh, with a similar profile to the 1995, but just a tad more reserved. It reminded me of something Raúl Pérez once told me: that old Bordeaux and old Rioja seem to converge as they age and can become remarkably similar.

Cirsion 2001
Clearly a different animal. Much richer and more concentrated, with ripe blackberry, black cherry, graphite, tobacco, espresso and sweet spice. Dense and powerful but never clumsy. It’s pure silk and almost weightless despite the concentration, with very polished tannins and a long, dark fruited finish. Still feels remarkably youthful for its age. Best Cirsion ever in my books.

[Brian_Tuite]

@Scott_Watkins

Well I don’t say this lightly but this bottle 2023 was stunning in its depth and acid balance. Wondering how these will age but I have a good feeling. I mean come on this is Albarino for God sakes, @Sarah_Kirschbaum I should not be happy with you because now I will be spending a chunk of money to get more wherever I can find it but all I feel is the love thanks for the rec!

Looks sketch to me.

[Brian_Tuite]

I love this wine, aromatically, texturally and flavorwise.

[Ramon_C]

@I.S_a_n_c_h_e_z

And finally Matarromera Reserva 2015 (from magnum). Plush, polished Ribera del Duero. The fruit is ripe and dark: blackberry, plum and black cherry, wrapped in sweet oak, vanilla, cocoa, tobacco and a little cedar. The palate is full-bodied and round, with velvety tannins, enough acidity to keep it balanced and a smooth, moderately long finish. After drinking a lot of Matarromera lately (2015, 2020, 2022), I’d call it Spain’s answer to a Silver Oak Cab. It’s perfect for a steakhouse and a crowd, generous and easy to love but nothing you need to think about too much.

I’ve drunk Matarromera in the past, only because they’re constantly available in Spanish airports duty-free shops and can be quickly lugged home for the evening dinner when I get home from the airport. Your post confirms that they haven’t changed their wine-making ways.

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

RFG @ $17 a bottle

[Javier_D.S]

This was drinking well young?

[CarolineHZhang]

To my palate yes, especially if you’re allowing it some time to breathe and pairing it with some fatty cuts! It’s certainly on the young side of things, but not too closed if you have a bit of time to wait for it to develop in the glass/bottle/decanter. If you’re not the biggest fan of juicy younger wines though probably good to wait a bit, these wines certainly have quite a bit of life in them for ageing.

[Arv_R]

It seems like this Bodega gets very little discussion here despite plaudits from professionals.