An auction purchase, this had good fill and the cork (soaked about a third to halfway up) came out in one piece via an Ah-So. Maybe past peak, but very much alive.
The wine poured crystal clear and brick red off of a fair amount of medium sediment. The wine was decanted an hour prior to consumption and followed for several hours thereafter. Nose and palate were a bit thin on PnP but opened up nicely after an hour.
Almost fully tertiary nose with both baked/dusty and damp/loamy earth, leather, old book inflected vanillin, after a while with air some tempranillo sour cherry came out albeit subdued. The nose does not leap out of the glass but is not shy at all once you swirl and sniff.
Very fresh and lively on the palate, with bright mouthwatering acidity. The wine has mid minus body; a small amount of tannic grip remaining; and a long finish. Intense but very light on its feet. There is not a huge amount of fruit left, and this may have been better some years ago, but there is some red tempranillo fruit (sour cherry is what always comes to mind) remaining along with more tertiary flavors including that soft ‘bottle sweetness’ character I’ve found in some of the older wines I’ve had.
This was the first Rioja with significant age that I’ve had, and I was very favorably impressed. Lots of interest.
Edit: revisiting tonight and was reminded I forgot to note some balsamic type VA on the nose, less perceptible on the palate. Still kicking night 2.