A Rioja Grenache
Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2023 6:56 am
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.
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.