10 Marques del Hueco ‘Vendimia Seleccionada’ [Rioja] This Rioja is only carried at a few NY retailers, so it’s unlikely to be seen anywhere else stateside, but I rounded out a shipment with a bottle, and was glad I did. The DOC tag specifies crianza but that is not mentioned anywhere else, but this was traditional Rioja proffered up in a tastefully labeled, modern tall bottle. It’s medium bodied, 13% abv, and had a dirty red color. The label says its unfiltered, but it was more cloudy than sedimented. Also charmingly, it assures the consumer that its been ‘aged for 12 months in new Frech (sic) and American barriques.’ So that Frech oak comes across in the vanilla palate, and the typical Rioja cherry and dill notes shows up on the nose. Definitely a case where the retailer knows that its customer base for conventional Rioja will have no problem trying this too. The SO tasted it and said ‘yes, this is the kind of Spanish wine I like’. So I had to share a few glasses over the days. Happy to have tried it, wouldn’t go out of my way to reload yet since I’d have to ship it, but would definitely enjoy it again. I hope they get more national distribution. This and Lopez de Haro are new to me but seem to be making medium bodied wines that taste like one would expect. I’m thinking it gets a B. It’s more on the bright side with acidity, but just enough to keep it fresh, it doesn’t have to be a food wine.
Garagiste is running this as a nightlite, for $14 as of a few min ago. For those outside the metro NYC area, that’s a good deal for an AFWE old school Rioja. Rimmerman doesn’t write much on the email, if that metric for purchasing is used as well.