2006 Marqués de Riscal Reserva Rioja

 

A few weeks ago I tasted a Rioja Crianza as part of Snooth’s month of Tempranillo tasting. It was OK. I was curious about seeing the difference between a Spanish Reserva and Crianza, was there really a noticeable difference? Well in this case there is. This is a wonderful wine and although this website is quite young, this is my first B rated wine. I’m sipping a glass right now and am thoroughly enjoying it. I didn’t know anything about this winery, just took a stab at a Reserva at my local SAQ (the government run liquor shop here in Quebec). What luck. Actually it was a fruitful day. I made two guesses, this one and an Old Vine Zinfandel that I also quite enjoyed that I’ll review tomorrow (St. Francis). I only found out later that Vinos de Los Herederos Marques de Riscal is one of the oldest wineries in the Rioja and are known for producing some very nice wines. I’ll be going to Spain next year and hope that I might visit this winery (I’ll bring my camera).

About this bottle:

I am still trying to build a nice personal wine vocabulary and I’m doing my best by drinking as much as I can and trying to create associations between certain aromas and terms that will really gel for me. I made a great one with this wine. Sandalwood. I’ve smelled this aroma before and could never define it well. It reminds my of a beach house that I used to frequent and the term sandalwood just sticks with this wine, along with some floral hints 0 that I still need to work on. The woody flavor I’m sure comes from the time the wine spent in the barriques. It’s lovely.

This Spanish Reserva  is medium bodied with smooth tannins and a lovely woody taste. The finish is good, the taste is excellent. I always love to give a real world quickie scenario. If my brother put a bottle of this on the table the next time we visit you’d see a decent sized grin on my face. I like it. There’s a very nice fruity taste, plums, dark cherries – and definitely woody (in a good way).

I’m still too novice at this to say why it goes down the way it does, I don’t know if it’s just the age – if it has mellowed or if it’s simply due to it being a Reserva and having spent a good amount of time in oak (two years). Whichever, it’s a nice smooth wine with a lovely taste that won’t break the bank. Good value in this bottle. I think I’ll buy a couple more of these next weekend.

Here’s a snippet of a review from Snooth.com

Marques De Riscal Reserva Rioja 2006. This reserva quality wine comes from the oldest bodega in Rioja. Through adherence to time-honoured skills and original techniques, their wines retain a distinctive and appealing character, a style reflecting the best virtues of traditional Rioja. visit the site…

Added Note: a couple months have gone by and I have bought a bunch of these for my mini-cellar.
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