A Grand Rioja Tasting: Finally, an Strong Identity Emerges!

Post Summary Points

• Great changes in Rioja have occured
• What are differences between traditional and modern styles
• Rioja Basics
• Traditional producer reviews (CVNE, Bodegas Riojanas)
• Modern producer reviews (Vintae, Bodega Ontañón)

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The more time I spend in wine, the more I realize that you can't pre-judge anything.

Two years ago, I attended a big tasting event courtesy of Vibrant Rioja, the international marketing organization meant to make people more aware about the region. I wasn't blown away and I actually left thinking that the stuff had, in large part, become very homogenized. I used to love the spicy, savory flavors in Rioja but it seemed like everything had kind of moved to an overly hygienic style that was a little flavorless. Rather than get me really excited about Rioja, I've got to admit that I've been off the sauce since the event.

Fast forward two years and things have changed dramatically. This year's event brought a bunch of new, exciting producers and what was lacking two years ago -- a focus and an identity -- was pretty clear to me. And I'm not talking about the marketing hocus pocus. I'm taking about the wine style.  

I may be completely wrong about this, but my sense is that as the EU pumped more money into wine/farming/agriculture, some of the wineries put too much stock in new technology and New World (everywhere but Europe is the New World and they like their toys and machines a little more than the Old World/Europe) winemaking, resulting in wines that lost their tie to the lands of Rioja. It lead to a really "modern" (Read: homogenous) flavor. 

From what I can report, things are settling down a bit and the wines have benefited greatly.

Some things haven't changed though -- as I reported a few years ago, there are still two very distinct styles of Rioja -- a traditional, spicy style and a newer, fruitier style.

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TRADITIONAL V. MODERN RIOJA STYLES

Traditional Rioja

The traditional style is driven by what's known as the Centenarian Bodegas -- those that have been around for over 100 years and benefited from a huge migration of French winemakers over the Pyrenees, when that vicious serial vine killer, phylloxera, hit Bordeaux in the 1860s. 

These are huge producers and they have very distinct styles. The main wineries are:  CVNE (Companía Vinícola del Norte de España), La Rioja Alta, Muga, López de Heredia, Marqués de Riscal, Marqués de Murrieta, and Bodegas Riojanas.

I've had Muga and Marqués de Riscal many times before, but had never taste the wines of CVNE or Bodegas Riojanas, which were both featured at this event.

Modern Rioja

A younger generation of winemakers has cropped up and learned from winemakers from Australia and the United States. These are entrepreneurial people who  make wines that have a global appeal. In the past, I've found these to be blah -- flavorless and boring. Fortunately, there seems to have been a real shift. Producers are making wines that have less spice and oak, which are traditional red Rioja characters, and are instead opting to showcase the fruit and the land, which make for distinctive, unique wines. I now have a place for these in my wine repertoire and am excited to tell you about them!

  

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RIOJA BASICS

Before we get started on the wines, a few Rioja Basics. The first and most important thing is that although most places in Europe focus on terroir or the soil and the flavor that derives from the vineyard, Rioja is more about the process of making it -- the grapes used and how long the wine stays in a barrel determines quality. 

That said, there are three main production areas of Rioja: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa, and Rioja Baja. Traditionally the highest quality grapes came from the hills/mountains of Alta and Alavesa, and the grapes from Baja were used for their ripeness to goose up the fruitiness and color of the wines. As you'll see below, you can't assume that's the case anymore...

Grapes

• White Rioja is generally Viura (also known as Macabeo and used in Cava) sometimes blended with the fragrant Malvasia or Garnacha Blanca
• Rosado, which I didn't review below, is usually made of Garnacha (also known as Grenache in France)
• Red Rioja is Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano, and Mazuelo, with Tempranillo leading the heap and the others used for floral aromatics, alcohol, and color. 

The Importance of Aging and Oak

Riojanos love to age stuff. They equate time to quality. You'll see these terms on a bottle, so pay attention!

• Crianza: Aged for 1-1.5 years in oak, with an additional year in a bottle before release. This is the everyday wine in Rioja.
• Reserva:  Aged in oak for 1.5 - 2 years and then another 1 - 2 years in a bottle before release. This has more flavor and is generally a bit richer. A Friday night wine.
• Gran Reserva: Aged in oak 2 - 3 years and then another 3 years in bottle. They're only made in great vintages and this is an expensive, special occasion wine.

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THE WINES

Most of the wines reviewed below were red. Unless it says blanco, it's a red! There are two traditional producers and two modern ones:

Traditional Rioja Producers

I. CVNE (Companía Vinícola del Norte de España)

The winery has been around since 1879 and the experience shows. The wines from this benchmark producer were solid. My general impression was that the young wines were awesome, but the Reserva and Gran Reserva wines were way too young to taste.

CVNE Cune Monopole Blanco (White), 2010, $14

Made from the white Viura grape the wine was a fabulous example of a white Rioja. 

Color: Pale, with green edges
Smell: Like fresh laurel leaves, and like a salad picked right from a garden (not the scary grocery stuff).
Taste: Crisp, with those salad flavors and awesome acidity
Drink or Sink?: Drink. This would be a perfect wine with seafood. For $14, it's high on the list. GREAT wine.

CVNE Cune Crianza, 2008, $15

Color: A little brown around the edges from the age (red wine moves to an amber color with time).

Smell: Raisins, dried cherry, dried apricot, and a healthy dose of vanilla smell from the oak. 

Taste: Oak, dried cherry, dried strawberry with great tannin and decent acid, it had major gusto. 

Drink or Sink?: Drink. For $15, this is complete winner. The wine was straight up classic Rioja. Spice, oak, dried fruit, good tannin -- everything I expect from a Crianza.

CVNE Cune Contino Reserva, 2005, $45 (this is a single vineyard, smaller production wine)

Color: A little brown with orange streaks. 

Smell: A similar dried fruit aroma to the Crianza but the oak smell was more pungent.

Taste: Like stewed tomatoes, dried fruit, and vanilla and it was even a little salty-smelling or like earth but it had none of the interesting layers of spice that I like in Rioja. 

Drink or Sink?: Sink. I think it needed more time in the bottle, because it didn't seem well balanced. It didn't have good tannin or acid -- the structure was off. It was kind boring. For $40+ dollars, I definitely wasn't in love. I'll give the benefit of the doubt and assume it was still a little too young, but meh.

CVNE Cune Viña Real Gran Reserva, 2004, $44

Color: Kind of a brown brick red from age.

Smell: There was a huge hit of coffee, mocha, and cinnamon with less fruit. Very savory.

Taste: A lot like cinnamon red hot candies. No fruit but a TON of oaky, smokiness.

Drink or sink?: Right now, SINK because the oak stuck out like a pointy elbow and there was nothing else going on. I think this one could also use a few more years of aging. It would be great in another 5 years. Now -- don't go there.

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II. Bodegas Riojanas

This place has been making wine for 7 generations. They are a benchmark for Rioja, similar to the CVNE.

Puerta Vieja Crianza 2009, $15

This is 80% Tempranillo, 15% Mazuelo, and 5% Graciano. It spends 1.5 years in American oak, which means it's going to taste like wood in one form or another...

Color: Ruby, with a pink rim, the wine was very bright.

Smell: You can smell the oak!  It was like warm spice -- nutmeg, cinnamon, with a little bit of black pepper. 

Taste: Like minerals or kicked up dust, vanilla oak, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The wine had mouthdrying tannins that I was chewing on after I swallowed.

Drink or Sink?: LOVE this wine. This is what I think of when I think of Rioja. A total go-to. A traditional Rioja. Amazing and very well done.

Monte Real Crianza 2009, $15

Another of their lines, this is Bodegas Riojanas more modern take on Rioja. It's 100% Tempranillo, as are many of the more modern styles, and it's aged in American oak for 2 years.

Color: Ruby/pink, the color didn't look much different from the Puerta Vieja.

Smell: Floral -- like violets, with lots of oak/sawed wood smell, and some cinnamon.

Taste: Light, with plum and dried cherry flavors and a good hit of oak but it wasn't all that tannic. There was stronger acid, so my mouth was watering.

Drink or Sink?: Hmmmm...I can't sink it because it's well made but it's not my cup of tea. It's a little bit of a powder puff. When you can get the Puerta Vieja for the same price, why bother with this one? That said, if you like the modern, clean version of Rioja, this is your wine.

Viña Albina Reserva 2005, $24

This is part of Bodegas Riojanas's traditional line as well -- it's the next tier up from the Puerta Vieja Crianza. It's the same blend as that wine, but this spends 2.5 years in American oak. 

Color: Dark garnet, red-brown, with an orange tinted rim from the age.

Smell: Like dark flowers, a forest, and cinnamon. This was a rich, spicy, earthy wine.

Taste: SPICY! Like cinnamon, black pepper, even a little cumin! Then dried plum (I guess that would be prune but that sounds gross), fresh tomato, and more spice! The wine had great mouth drying tannins and good mouth cleaning acidity. The spice lingered in my mouth forever.

Drink or Sink?: I also LOVE this wine. Amazing and a total classic. One of the best Riojas I've had. Drink!

Monte Real Reserva 2005, $30

Color: Bright ruby color with an orange tinge.

Smell: There wasn't much going on here. A little red cherry, a little charred oak.

Taste: Pretty light. A touch of cherry and a BIG hit of charred wood. 

Drink or Sink?: It's a nice wine but there wasn't much to it. A pretty light version of Rioja. Again, well made, so I can't sink it, but I think you could do better for $30.

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Modern Rioja Producers

 
And now to the modern producers. I was wary of these because in the past, I've found the wines to be light, homogenized, and not worth it, frankly. I went in with an open mind and was pretty impressed, though! Some very interesting and fantastic stuff.

III.VINTAE

  

Vintae has a bunch of different brands, but only two are from Rioja: Hacienda Lopez de Haro and Quatro Pagos. They pride themselves on being ultra-modern.

Hacienda Lopez de Haro Viura (White) 2011

Color: Pale straw and kind of green -- showing it's baby face.

Smell: What? This was peachy and limey. This was more like an Albariño than a white Rioja!

Taste: But it tasted like a Viura (white Rioja) -- with tobacco, shrub-like flavors offset by a little peachiness.

Drink or Sink?: Drink. A really great wine. Not what I'd expect out of a white Rioja but delicious nonetheless!

Hacienda Lopez de Haro Tempranillo 2010, $10

Color:  Very bright ruby with a pretty pink edge. No brown here -- this was a young buck.

Smell: Fresh, with a  violet and gardenia smell, and a little cinnamon. 

Taste: Totally unexpected. More like menthol or mint with licorice flavors and a little plum and vanilla. It had softer tannin so it was soft on the mouth.

Drink or Sink?: Drink. It was easy drinking and really pleasant. A great summer red -- a little gusto but not too much. It's got bright flavors and I like the herbal note. Good stuff, especially for the coin.

Hacienda Lopez de Haro Crianza 2008, $12

Color: A light garnet and a little brownish but still kind of bright because the wine isn't too old.

Smell: This had some power. Licorice, with lots of spice from the oak -- like nutmeg and allspice and Christmas-time. And black fruit -- black cherries, black plums. Yum.

Taste: Just like it smelled -- licorice, plums, cherries, spice, with vanilla. And fresh from the acidity.

Drink or Sink? Drink. For $12, this is great. I loved the complexity of flavor and the fact that it had a lot going on but was still light. Great wine. 

The next two wines are part of the modern "Maetierra Dominum" line of Rioja from Vintae. They are blends of Tempranillo, Garnacha, and Graciano -- traditional for Rioja and from 4 estates (Quatro Pagos). The adorable winemaker was at the event, and he's from a long line of winemakers. He was very sweet and humored me as I spoke my lame Spanish to him (I need some Rosetta Stone to really bone up!).

Quatro Pagos Reserva 2005, $20

Color: Ruby with a brown edge from the 3 years in oak and 4 years in the bottle.

Smell: This was very tight -- it smelled a little sharp -- like something acidic and kind of like fresh cut trees. Not much else there.

Taste: Plum, some minerals and good tannin, but this wine was thin on the finish.Very oaky and a little thick but not enough fruit or minerals to make this sing.

Drink or Sink?: Meh. I'm on the fence. It's ok but nothing great. I can tell this is well made, but I wouldn't drink it right now because it's so tight so I guess it's a sink. 

Quatro Pagos Vintage Reserva 2006

Color: Ruby with thick legs from the 14% alcohol.

Smell: Fruity -- like blackberries and blueberries with an alcohol burn up my snout and a lot of oak.

Taste: Black pepper, black plum, blackberry, and black cherry -- this was a very "black" wine. It had a touch of bitterness and strong tannin but the rich fruit and cleansing acid made it balanced.

Drink or Sink?: Drink...with a caveat. If you gave this to me blind, I would think this was a California Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel. This is a huge wine and so unlike a Rioja that it's an anomaly. I liked it, but it doesn't fit in with the other Rioja wines I've had, so if you buy this know what you're getting into!

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IV. Bodegas Ontañón

A small, new winery, that was established 10 years ago I didn't know what to expect...but WOW.

Vetiver Blanco Viura 2009 (white)

Color: Pale straw -- almost platinum in color.

Smell: Lime, grass, and fresh cut green herbs with a little tobacco and gravel dust smell. Very expected for this wine.

Taste: It tasted like it smelled, except there was a very cool twist -- there was a tart raspberry sensation that made it really special. Great fruit in the vineyard made that possible! The texture of the wine was softer and less acidic, partially because the wine was aged in an American oak barrel, so it showed that influence.

Drink or Sink?: Drink. Very bright good and refreshing.

Ontañón Ecológico 2009

Cosecha is 100% Tempranillo and is made from organically farmed (ecológico) vineyards. Cosecha means this year's harvest, so no rigorous oak aging regimen here. The wine is what it is. 

The fruit for this wine comes from the lower esteemed "Baja" area of Rioja, which as I alluded to above is traditionally the site of overly ripe, raisined grapes that add a little extra color and fruitiness to the wines of Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Alta. I guess someone figured out how to farm this area, because this is NOT a second class wine.

Color: Crimson with no variation in color at all, this was a wine from a warm place!

Smell: Like a Christmas tree with cherry, apple, plum, and cinnamon. Fruitcake -like.

Taste: Licorice, sour cherry, menthol, and cinnamon dominated and the wine was rich and heavy, spicy and full.

Drink or Sink?: Drink. I loved this wine. It was dense and delicious. A perfect one for cool weather.

Ontañón Crianza 2008

Color: Crimson, similar to the Cosecha.

Smell: All dark plums, blackberries, blueberries, dark cherries, and rich vanilla/cinnamon oak. 

Taste: Full, rich and powerful with mild tannin and acid that was in balance but present enough to hold up the fruit. Also like a Christmas tree -- cinnamon, apple, plum, and wood with a little dried dirt flavor.

Drink or Sink?: Another great wine. I loved the fruit and the unique flavors. The oak is noticeable but mild and the fruit really is the star. Balance and deliciousness. Totally unlike the traditional producers, but one of the best and most interesting reds I've had in a while. 

Ontañón Reserva 2004

This wine is 95% Tempranillo with 5% Graciano. It spends 2 years in a barrel and then 2 years in a bottle before release.

Color: Ruby -- dark from the warmer climate.

Smell: Not much here -- a little licorice some strawberry, but kind of light on the smell.

Taste: Plums, strawberry, black cherry with baking spices: nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, vanilla. The vanilla/caramel from the oak was present but very balanced. The acid in the wine made it taste fresh and bright, rather than dark and thick.

Drink or Sink?: Excellent wine. Drink. So fresh yet so much going on. Loved it.

Ontañón Gran Reserva 2001

Also 95% Tempranillo and 5% Graciano, this wine spends 3 years in a barrel and then 3 years in a bottle. That gives it a lot of time to "think" and become itself before it comes to us!

Color:  Crimson with a brown tint -- which you'd expect from an 11 year old wine.

Smell: Very earthy and dusty (like a country road), light plum and cherry scents.

Taste: Like thyme, herbs, minerals and country road with a rich coffee taste and medium tannins. The dustiness caught at the back of my throat, giving the wine a sense of "Somewhereness" (it grew in the ground!). It was flavorful and rich yet also so fresh and light.

Drink or Sink?: This is what I'd call a BEAUTIFUL wine. Everything was in perfect balance -- earth, fruit, tannin, acid, alcohol -- everything was perfect together. What a fabulous end to the tasting.

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All in all, I've got to say that both the traditional and modern producers were FAR better than they were 2 years ago. I now believe that Rioja is finding its identity and we can start to rely on these wines to have some common ground. The traditional styles will be oaky, spicy, and rich. The new styles more elegant, fruity, and fresh. I feel like Rioja is now for all seasons -- white in the summer, the traditional styles for fall and winter and the newer styles for spring. What a difference 2 years makes! 

Thanks to Vibrant Rioja for producing such a wonderful event and inviting quality producers to change my opinion about the place!