According to biodynamic calender, 27Aug was a leaf day. You may say I’m suspicious but I’m not going to drink any expensive Burgundy wines any more on a leaf or root day. Yet, this actually gives me more chance to drink wines from other countries and regions.
Rioja is the most famous wine in Spain. Generally speaking, producers can be grouped in two camps: traditionalist and modernist.
Famous producers from the traditional camp include R. Lopez de Heredia. Normally, they will age their wines for a much longer period before releasing to the market. This is why even though we are now in 2011, we are still finding Rioja Gran Reserva of vintage 2001 and 2002! For anyone lacking patience or without a wine fridge, this is actually a golden opportunity if you would like to try aged red wines. They are so different from wines of recent vintages and you may find yourself fall in love!
In term of style, since traditional Rioja is normally aged for a long period before release, its colour is usually much lighter and paler. It will have more obvious tertiary noses such as leathery and damp leaves. Tannins are lighter and should be fully integrated already. As a result, you will find it having a smooth and silky palate. It tends to be elegance instead of bold and muscular. Another reason for its lighter colour and tannins is due to the fact that traditional camp producer will have its wine undergoing a shorter maceration.
However, since the cost of ageing wine is quite high, most producers in Rioja today belongs to modern camp. The wine I drank this time is from Roda which belongs the modern camp. Modern camp producer usually will release its wine to the market with shorter ageing. The maceration time is also longer in order to extract more tannins and colours. Therefore, modern camp Rioja will have much deeper colour and will have higher level of tannins. It is usually fuller in body and have higher concentration of fruit flavours.
I really think this 2005 Roda Reserva is a good example of modern camp Rioja. It has superb concentration and rich in black fruits, violet and dried herbs flavours. It really seems like a super-concentrated fruit juice with layers and complexity! Tannins is ripe and the wine got a good structure.
Although I may prefer the style of traditional Buy lexapro online camp Rioja, I cannot deny that this is a very good wine offering good value for money. I really enjoy drinking it!
Purchased from Ponti Wine Cellars (HK$298)