I had my last 2001 San Vicente recently. Still quite young but now has shed all that American oak and displays the beautiful spicy brilliance of the best of Rioja. Super nice.
To me there are only a few that I buy.
The best Riojas I have ever tasted are over 40 years old.
The last was an incredible 1968 La Rioja Alta in Getaria in the Basque area. A very nice man at a restaurant sold it to me from his personal collection since
it was my birthday. It is 10 years younger than me but I was 60 at that point. At 50 years old, this wine is in a perfect place. Spicy. Elegant like all mature Riojas.
Delicious.
Lopez de Heredia
La Rioja Alta
CUNE
Ramerez de Ganuza (more modern styling but so gorgeous)
San Vicente
These are some of my favorites. I don’t think you can go wrong with the top 3. They are old school. Made in a style that can age and not too over the top with wood. I do love old Rioja. FWIW.
I’ve been a huge fan of LdH also and have been lucky enough to drink their GR from 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and they have been amazing. One thing I noticed that no one mentioned one of the oldest houses of the are, that is Remelluri. I organized a tasting few years ago where we had bottlings mainly from the 90’s but also there was their Blanco 2007. It was mindblowing! The reds are amazing and can age easily 30 years but that white is one of the whites that comes out of Spain.
Have had the pleasure of drinking a few Remelluri blancos,'06 and '09 - crazy (good) wines, completely atypical of the region though, being a blend of up to nine varieties. Have not been as impressed with their reds, though I’ve probably had them on the “too young” side.
Before going out for dinner last night, I opened up a 2015 Ramirez de la Piscina ‘Crianza’ [Rioja] as a pre-prandial refresher. Even though its a full bodied, 15% abv wine it is more deft than the numbers might suggest. This has the usual external cues of quality: all tempranillo, hand picked, estate vineyards, older vines on clay/limestone soil, from the Rioja Alta region particularly the San Vicente Sonsierra village. The tech sheet notes its hand sorted, destemmed and after fermentation gravity ‘fed’ to American/French oak barrels for elevage. But, in the end, what matters is what’s in the glass and – just like its bigger brother the 2015 Reserva – I quite like this. The nose still has some wood at age 7, but its not the heavy lumber bodegas like LRA show, and there are blackberry fruit flavors as well as pine and balsamic notes as well. It’s prototype polished Rioja, with traditional aspects, but is clean/correct, with rich fruit. Tannins are softly resolved, acids are low to non existent, and the flavor holds for a good 20-30 seconds. This producer is a newer one (operating for the 30-50 years or so under their own label) but enjoys good US distribution since Jorge Ordonez represents them. I accept that some WB would be leery based on the importer, but this bodega’s offerings are worth trying. Despite the stated abv, it’s not hot nor cloying to my tastes. Looking at my notes, I’m not sure whether I would have liked this or the reserva (same year) better since I didn’t have them side by side, but both are strong examples of the DOCa. A- in my ledger.
2015 and 2016 are well regarded years for the region, and depending on the estate/level are still entering the US retail system. I was nervous about the cork here, but it was fine; over the last year 4 of the last 6 unsound/tainted/off bottles I’ve had have been Spanish… all sealed with natural closures.
The kids had requested sushi for supper, and in particular, a specific venue that entails difficulty in every aspect of dealing with them – balanced by my judgement that its the best in our area, and under some circumstances worth dealing with. So even though I didn’t open an (RP approved!) 2007 CNDP to pair with the sushi / rolls, supper seemed ok enough for everyone.
I’ve been enjoying this modern 2016 Sierra Cantabria ‘Unica’ Reserva [Rioja] over 3 winter evenings. It’s a smaller production - 92 barrels / 2700 cs - Alavaesa bottling from this bodega, that is lavishly oaked over two years with both French & American wood. It’s 14.5% abv, medium bodied, dark ruby at a decades age, closed with natural/conventional cork. The Eguren family has dialed in the oak balance here well while keeping fruit intensity/depth. It’s nearly all tempranillo, but there is a dash of acidity coming from a dollop of graciano. I like the tobacco and dill flavors, but it also comes across as plush/international/Rhoneish.
This is a lovely Rioja, where the last glass was the best. It would be an easy A- on my card, and perhaps might hit a solid A with further development/age.
The last few days I’ve been drinking an old school, large scale producer 2016 Olarra ‘Classico’ Gran Reserva [Rioja] which is a good example of the region, and it’s level, but runs out of steam after 48 hours open. It’s medium bodied, 13.5% abv, a touch rusty red in color with a nose of balsalmic, bay leaves, pipe smoke. The fruit is on the brighter red berry side, with a touch of acidic lift, and tannins are mostly resolved. This is a mix of older plots from 4 Rioja Alta villages, composed of (80%) tempranillo of course, but also mazuelo, graciano, and garnacha. This is a big producer - output comparable to CVNE or MdRiscal - with multiple facilities, and many brands/labels/bottlings that seems to be making a fresh push into the US. In recent years I’ve picked up a few different names, all from different merchants, although the experiences have been hit or miss. I do like this 2016, and it’s what I expect flavor wise. It’s closed with a natural cork, and perfectly sound, without glaring unpleasant oak attributes. It drinks best on day 1 and 2, fading fast by the third, and whether that is an unfair standard or not, it’s the main reason why I notched down to a B+ after mulling it over. I don’t think it will keep the way more intense Rioja might - this reminds me of Montecillo’s GR.
Even if “small producers/estate wines” is a WB vinuous piety to proclaim, this industrial house with who knows who many growers feeding the vats, has something to offer too, and I suggest tasting them to see what the spectrum is like.
