Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I quite like Rioja and wonder why I don’t drink it more often. OK, some of them are seriously overoaked, but if you take a little time and effort, you can find some wonderful wines, and the prices hurt a lot less than for fine French wines…

I’ve been to Rioja a couple of times and believed I had more than a superficial acquaintance with the region. But a recent experience showed me how ignorant I am.

After seeing the new Mission Impossible, I went to dinner with friends to a Peruvian restaurant that specializes in blind tasting.
https://www.tripadvisor.fr/Restaurant_R ... taine.html

While there, I discovered a 2018 Garnacha Rioja crianza from Magister Bibendi. This was the best of the 10 wines we tasted blind.

I always, and very simplistically, associated red Rioja (i.e. 86% of production) with Tempranillo. Period. But the above wine made me look up authorized varieties. In fact, there are 5 for red wines, with Tempranillo and Viura accounting for three quarters of area under vine.

Anyway, this Garnacha was a really delicious wine and good value for money. It was a revelation to me. It was drinking very well at 5 years of age,. If they have a riserva and gran riserva of Garnacha, I suspect I might prefer the entry level crianza thank to its pure fruit and minimal oak.
The aftertaste was good and long.

I do not know what the minimum legal percentage is for varietal wines in Spain.

Best regards,
Alex R.

Interesting concept serving wines blind in a restaurant, Alex. Do you choose the food and they decide on what matches best? Not very clear from the Tripadvisor description.
And I love Rioja but the selection we get is very limited. Usually Lopez de Heredia, Marques de Riscal and La Rioja Alta. Luckily they are all excellent. I sometimes see Cune but very rarely

Garnacha tends to be more of a small blending element for the bodegas in Rioja Alta and RIoja Alavesa, but in Rioja Oriental (which used to be called Rioja Baja) it can be the dominant component in the blend. That area is more inland, and hotter, so that varietal thrives there.

Artadi is one of the better producers who tends to use a lot of garnacha, but they have an odd location. They have also stopped using the regulators official labeling systems. Ontanon, in the Oriental, also is a proponent. A newer AFWE house - Antigua - which is favored by John Gilman also uses a good portion. I've only tried one vintage of theirs, but thought it was quite good.

https://www.wineberserkers.com/t/rioja- ... 58?u=arv_r

I have the feeling most Rioja buyers, if they know anything about the cepage, are suspicious of garnacha and would be leery of it. I generally only want the wines from the main areas proper like Alta and Alavesa.

GREDOS! Seriously, if you haven't tried some wines from here (a la 4 Monos, Comando G, Daniel Landi, etc.), they are absolutely worth seeking out. Not all are stylistically the same, but if you are looking for grenache that is more Rayas-esque without paying Rayas prices, I really think this region is doing something special.

I don't drink a lot of grenache, but when I do, this has been my go to within Spain. Between the elevation, granite soils, and the winemaking philosophy (less intervention, less oak, etc.), you get very "burgundian/ethereal" expressions of the grape. To be honest, I don't really drink any CdP anymore or much grenache in general because I find it is often either overoaked, or it comes off as too hot and when aged, ends up taking on a stewed fruit/raisins quality, especially in hotter vintages. You can really taste the heat on this grape above 14% in most cases, and it is also extremely delicate re storage (i.e. if wines aren't stored properly, you'll know it much more in a grenache based wine rather than cabernet sauvignon as an example). I'd highly recommend picking up some wines from Sierra de Gredos and see what you think.

I will say that these wines are much easier to procure if you are in London or in Europe than in the US and can be had for a song, so there really is minimal downside in snagging a few to see if you like them. If you do try them, please report back. They were a revelation to me and still are...and best of all, they are cheap