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Two Great Wines From Rioja

Posted by John Wilson on September 13, 2023

Two Wines on Wednesday this week, both from the Rioja 100Km of Diversity tasting last week.

Phinca Hapa 2020, Rioja Blanco, Bodegas Bhilar

Deep in colour with peaches and tangy orange peel on the nose. Both flavours continue on to the palate, blending in perfectly with opulent apricots, lime zest, and a strong mineral element. A fascinating and original wine.

#39.95, currently on offer at €25 from Searsons, Monkstown, www.searsons.com until the 24th September.

Bodegas Bhilar was set up in 1999 by David Sampedro and his wife Melanie Hickman. He is from the Rioja Alavesa, she from Hawaii. Today the vineyards are biodynamic and they specialise in small batches of single vineyard wines. The minimal intervention sustainable winery is built partially underground with concrete fermentation tanks. It is “off grid” using solar power.

There has been a lot of excitement about a new generation of Viura-based white wines from Rioja. This wine certainly fits into this category. The single vineyard Phinca Hapa is a blend of 82% Viura, 12% Garnacha Blanca and 6% Malvasía, fermented on the skins and then aged in large oak foudres.

Cantos de Valpiedra 2019, Finca Valpiedra Rioja Crianza

This is a very attractive smooth mature wine with elegant dark fruits, a subtle spiciness and tobacco. Medium-bodied, tannin-free and supple, this modern style Rioja offers very good value for money.

€21 from JNwine.com, Theallotment.ie.; The Vineyard, Belfast; The Vintage Wine Merchant, Antrim.

I would try this with white meats with a bit of flavour; roast pork or herby grilled chicken.

Finca Valpiedra is a single vineyard estate set up in 1994 by the well-known Martínez Bujanda family of Rioja. It has been part of the Grandes Pagos organization since its inception. The vineyard is relatively big, some 80 hectares close to the Ebro River in Rioja Alta. There is an excellent Reserva white wine fermented and matured in French and American oak, an unoaked Petra de Valpiedra, and the flagship red Finca Valpiedra Reserva. The Cantos de Valpiedra is the Crianza and comes from select stonier parcel of vines on the estate. It is made from 100% Tempranillo and aged for twelve months in 70% French and 30% American oak.

Tags: 100km of Diversity, Finca Valpiedra, Rioja, Rioja Blanco

Posted in: The Wine on Wednesday, Top Drop

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Is it time for a new way to classify wine?

Posted by admin on June 5, 2017

At one time all wine literature was laid out by country and region; then came wine by style. In recent months it occurred to me that we should categorise our wines slightly differently – by producer type. I reckon they can be roughly divided into four groups, with some overflow. The problem is knowing where to put your favourite wine, when everyone is pretending to be small and artisan.

Big Wine

Like big beer, these are the large-scale industrial producers, although they don’t always like being called that. Modern technology allows them to churn out huge quantities of soft fruity, often off-dry wines that are drinkable if rarely exciting. They will usually have several ranges of wine, including some very expensive ones. We should probably be thankful for these producers; they keep us supplied with plenty of drinkable everyday wines and some of the more expensive wines can be very good.

Small and medium farmers

Most often found in Europe, many small and medium-size farmers simply sell their grapes to the local co-operative, which then falls into the “Big Wine” category. But some do produce their own wine. Generally it will be okay, occasionally very good. They often struggle to market their wines and earn a living unless they come from a fairly well-known area such as Sancerre, Soave or Rioja, and can therefore charge higher prices. The best producers within this group are responsible for the most interesting and best-value wines. It is here that you will find the truest expressions of a grape variety, climate or region.

The wild bunch

The nearest wine gets to hipster. Often young, experimental and dismissive of all other producers, they seek out new grape varieties, unheard of ancient regions, and love to make organic, biodynamic or even natural wines using as little modern technology (or sulphur) as possible. If the winemaker is good, the wines can be excellent – if not, they smell and taste of vinegar or poo, or both together.

Luxury goods

These will probably come from a very well-known posh region such as Bordeaux, Champagne, Rioja, the Napa Valley or Margaret River. The owner, often a wealthy businessman or multinational, will hire a very expensive consultant who will produce plush, lush, rich, smooth, ultra-ripe red wines with plenty of new oak. You won’t always be able to tell the grape variety or wine region, but you can tell it costs a lot; it has been teased and manicured like the greens at Augusta. These wines are made to be drunk by other very wealthy people who don’t always know a huge amount about wine, but want to have the best of everything.

This week, three small to medium producers, plus a good value wine from a co-operative.

La Bicicleta Voladora 2015, Rioja

13.5%

€16.50

A delicious unoaked Rioja packed with succulent dark cherry and bramble fruits.

Stockists: 64wine, Glasthule.

Les Demoiselles de Ch Falfas 2015, Côtes de Bourg (biodynamic)

13.5%

€23.50

Forward bright juicy ripe dark fruits with a lovely balancing acidity. Perfect with the Sunday roast.

Stockists: Terroirs, Donnybrook

Domaine des Nugues 2015, Beaujolais Blanc

13%

€17.30

Delicious unoaked wine with gentle fruits, a lovely texture, a fine minerality and an excellent finish.

Stockists: Martin’s, Fairview; 64wine, Glasthule.

Tags: Beaujolais Blanc, Ch. Falfas, Chardinnay, Domaine des Nugues, La Bicicleta Rioja, La Bicicleta Voladora Rioja, Les demoiselles de Falfas, Rioja, Tempranillo

Posted in: Irish Times

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La Bicicleta Voladora Rioja 2015

Posted by admin on March 2, 2017

La Bicicleta Voladora Rioja 2015 (organic)

13.5%

Marvelous medium-bodied wine with delectable pure late summer fruits, underpinned by a subtle mineral streak. Made in a style that is right up my street.

A good all-rounder with an affinity for red meats, grilled lamb chops or a roast leg perhaps?

This wine is made by Germán Blanco of Quinta Milú, one of my favourite winemakers in Ribera del Duero. There, and now in Rioja, he makes delicious wines that sing with pure fruits. This is fermented in cement tanks and is completely unoaked. It is mainly Tempranillo, but includes a small percentage of Viura, a white grape. €16.50. available exclusively from 64 Wine, Glasthule.

Tags: 64wine, Germán Blanco, La Bicicleta, Rioja, Spanish red wine, Vinostito

Posted in: Top Drop

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Albizu Tempranillo 2015, Spain

Posted by admin on December 2, 2016

Albizu Tempranillo 2015, Spain

Available for €11.95-€12.95 from Mitchell & Son; Avoca Rathcoole; Le Caveau, Kilkenny; Baggot St Wines; Blackrock Cellar; Corkscrew; Fallon & Byrne; Listons; MacGuinness; Green Man; 64 Wines; World Wide Wines, Waterford.

I have a weakness for unoaked (or very lightly oaked) Rioja. I love the lively aroma, the pure cherry fruits and the refreshing acidity. They come to together to form an easy-drinking but sophisticated wine, great for sipping alone or for drinking with a variety or red and white meats. This example, made by a Rioja producer, from grapes grown within the region, doesn’t actually have the name Rioja on the label, but it certainly tastes like it. This is a perfect example of the style. Worth buying in quantity for the season ahead.

Tags: Albizu, Corkscrew, Green Man Wines, Le Caveau, Mitchell & Son, Rioja, Tempranillo

Posted in: Daily Drop

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Three Brilliant Wines from Rioja on their way.

Posted by admin on August 25, 2016

REMELLURI RETURNS TO IRELAND

Remelluri, the home of Spanish winemaker Telmo Rodriguez, will shortly make a welcome return to these shores. This has always been one of my favourite wines in Rioja, and now seems to be destined for even greater things. When I met Rodriguez back in 2014, he was determined to set things right in his home territory. ‘I am’ he said ‘a little bit old, so I think we have enough projects now. But Rioja is very important to me. My family bought our estate there back in the 1960s and I grew up there. Rioja is my main project today, the one in which I am investing most money and effort. It is like the other places I worked in; I have that excitement all over again. Rioja is one of the most amazing places in the world. The big old well-known wineries are responsible for the destruction of the vineyards of Rioja. We and other small producers are recuperating vineyards, finding old vines, going back to what existed before. Rioja needs to show what is inside.’

Rodriguez was born into a Basque family. His father had bought and restored an old monastery in Rioja and named it Remelurri, where he produced wine. Rodriguez studied winemaking with some of the top producers in France and returned to Rioja full of ideas. His father was quite happy with the way he was making wine, so Rodriguez departed. He had met Basque enologist Pablo Eguzkiza while studying at Bordeaux University. Together they founded Compañia de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez in 1984, and set about restoring the historic grapes and traditional practices of Spain. In each region they hired an old grower who remembered the way things used to be done and a young enologist who knew how to make wine. The two men have probably done more than anyone else to restore Spain to its rightful position as one of the great wine-producing countries of the world.

As for Remelluri, the wines were always good, but have even better since Rodriguez returned. He now produces two wines under the Lindes de Remelluri name. These are single vineyard wines, from estates that Remelluri bought every year. It is part of the plan to focus on the varying soils and terroirs of Rioja. One is from the village of Labastida, the other from San Vicente de la Sonsierra. The first is in Rioja Alava, the second in Rioja Alta. Then there is the Remelluri estate wine from their own vineyards.

The wines are now being imported by Vinostito, and should arrive in mid-September. I suspect they will be stocked by leading independents around Ireland. The two Lindes wines will sell for around €22, the estate for €31. Don’t miss them; these are very exciting wines.

Lindes de Remelluri 2012 Viñedos de San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Rioja
13.5%
€22

Cool elegant black fruits and chalky minerals on the nose; Impeccable linear dark fruits and minerals; precise, young, taut, structured and dry. An excellent wine that needs a few years or decanting before drinking with red meats.

Lindes de Remelluri 2012 Viñedos de Labastida, Rioja
14%
€22

Slightly riper on the nose than the Sonsierra but the same delicious blackcurrants – a wonderful nose; cool clean linear blackcurrants, a little more giving than the Sonsierra, but still a young taut wine. This is a brilliant wine – it doesn’t have the sweet extracted oakiness of a modern Rioja, nor the developed vegetal notes of the traditional style, but this is all the better for it.

Remelluri Rioja Reserva 2010
14%
€31

Wow! Wonderful wine. Broader, showing some soft maturity on the nose and palate; ripe dark fruits with real depth and complexity, yet at the sme time a lovely purity of fruit. This is exceptional Rioja. I have coravined my bottle and cannot wait to try it with roast lamb over the weekend!

Tags: Lindes de Remelluri 2012, Remelluri, Remelluri Rioja Reserva, Rioja, Rioja Reserva, Vinostito

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Green Chartreuse shades it.

Posted by admin on March 1, 2016

First published in the Irish Times, Saturday, 27th February 2016.

“With a pint of green chartreuse ain’t nothin’ seems right You buy the Sunday paper on a Saturday night”

So growled Tom Waits in Til The Money Runs Out, on his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine. Chartreuse has that sort of reputation. Strange then that it was created by an order of contemplative monks, and that French children are fed a drop of the Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse dissolved on a sugar cube to ward off sickness. At a heart-warming 69 per cent alcohol, it must kill all known germs. This elixir comes in a small phial, encased in its wooden case. The monks market it as a cordial, a liqueur and a “very effective” tonic on their website. The standard liqueur is slightly less potent than the Elixir at 55 per cent.

Chartreuse traces its history back to 1609 when, it is said, a secret recipe was handed to the Carthusian monks by a marshal in the army of King Henri IV. It eventually found its way to their headquarters in the mountains of Haut-Savoie, a beautiful region an hour’s drive east of Lyon. There, the apothecary succeeded in creating an elixir from some 130 herbs and spices. The exact recipe remains a secret to this day, shared only by two monks. Eventually, seeing that it had become popular as a drink, the monks created a less potent liqueur for use as a beverage. As you can also find a similar liqueur known as génépi, traditionally made by farmers in the region, it is possible that the story of Henri IV was invented along the way.

The order was expelled twice from France, once during the French Revolution and again in 1903. On the second occasion, they continued to produce the liqueur in Spain, only returning, with tacit state approval, in 1929. In their absence, an inferior copy was offered by the new distillery owners in France.Today, the complex blend of herbs is mixed at the monastery before being taken to a distillation plant in the nearby town of Voiron. You can visit the museum, and take a very pleasant walk around the high walls of the monastery, but entrance is forbidden. There are signs outside requesting visitors to keep quiet.

There are two versions of Chartreuse, green and yellow, each flavoured with a different selection of herbs. The yellow is sweeter, flavoured with saffron, and lower in alcohol. The complex flavours of the green are intensely herbal, medicinal and powerful. There is a sweetness that never cloys; it lingers and develops on the palate, lasting minutes. It is one of the only liqueurs that ages and improves in bottle and gives it’s name to the colour chartreuse.

The monks produce six different herb-based liqueurs, my favourite being the green Chartreuse VEP or (Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé) which is the standard version aged for a longer period in oak casks. It makes an excellent digestif served chilled after dinner. Green Chartreuse is back in fashion, as a drink with water, or as an ingredient in cocktails. Skiers in the resorts above the Haute-Savoie warm themselves up with a verte chaude, made with one part green Chartreuse to three parts hot chocolate, finished with a layer of cream – a French take on an Irish coffee.The Last Word, a Prohibition era cocktail, was recently revived by bartender Murray Stenson in Seattle. It consists of one part each of gin, lime juice, green Chartreuse and maraschino liqueur, shaken with ice and then strained into a martini glass.

The final tasting note goes to Anthony Blanche in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited: “Real green Chartreuse, made before the expulsion of the monks. There are five distinct tastes as it trickles over the tongue. It is like swallowing a spectrum.”

BOTTLES OF THE WEEK

La Vieille Capitelle 2013 AOP Languedoc
12.5%
€10

Familiar to O’Briens customers, a soft supple rich fruity red with ripe blackcurrants and spice. Great value for money.

Stockist: O’Briens

Ad Libitum 2014 Rioja (Organic)
12.5%
€16.99

Very attractive textured green apple and melon fruits, good acidity and a crisp finish. Great price for a wine with real interest.

Stockists: Cabot & Co, Westport; No.1 Pery Square, Limerick.

Grégory Pérez Mengoba 2013, Méncia del Espanillo, Bierzo
13.5% €33.50

Expensive brilliant wine, nuanced and sophisticated, with wonderful smooth dark cherry fruits, a subtle oakiness, and a lovely finish.

Stockists: Sheridan’s Cheesemongers; 64wine.

Tags: Ad Libitum, Bierzo, Charteeuse, Green Chartreuse, Grégory Pérez, Haut-Savoie, La Vieille Capitelle, Méncia, Mengoba, Rioja, White Tempranillo

Posted in: Beer & Whiskey, Irish Times

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An Irish favourite: Rioja reigns from Spain

Posted by admin on February 14, 2016

First published in the Irish Times 13th February, 2016

In the weeks before Christmas I spent a great deal of time standing in wine shops, inveigling customers into buying a copy of my wine book. One store I visited had two giant piles of rioja reserva on offer at a discounted price. There were other wines on promotion too, but it was the two riojas that flew out with the greatest speed. Both stacks were severely depleted by the time I departed a few hours later. Rioja, and rioja reserva in particular, has long been one of our favourite wine styles and shows no sign of losing popularity.

Most of us would be unaware that rioja has been going through a huge personality change over the last decade, redefining itself several times over. You could now argue that there are three categories of rioja, with some crossover, but generally very different in style. Yet despite this upheaval, rioja has managed to retain its position as Spain’s favourite quality wine.

Until the late 1990s every bottle of rioja was classified according to how long it had been aged in oak barrel and bottle prior to release. Under this system, there is a specified a minimum period of ageing in oak: six months for crianza, a year for reserva, and two years for gran reserva wines, At one stage the required period of ageing was even longer in each category. Some, such as López de Heredia, still age wines for 10 or more years in barrel.

Old barrels were generally used to avoid oak flavours while allowing the wine to soften and develop delicate mushroomy, leathery, earthy flavours. Nowadays, a portion of newer barrels is sometimes included to add vanilla and spice.

Classic examples of the traditional style (López de Heredia, Muga Prado Enea and La Rioja Alta 904 spring to mind) can be superb, complex wines that last forever. The only exception to ageing in oak was up north in Alava, the Basque part of Rioja, where the tradition has been to drink young, unoaked wines often made partly or completely by whole-berry fermentation. These light, acidic fruity wines went perfectly with those tapas the Basques love to eat in bars and restaurants.

Rioja expanded massively in the 1990s and at times the quality of the wine decreased. There was a downward pressure on price in Spain (where most rioja is sold) and elsewhere. It lead to some very cheap and uninspiring reservas and gran reservas. During the prolonged period of economic success in the years preceding the millennium and after, many producers started to produce a new, modern style of rioja: full-bodied wines with high levels of new oak, alcohol, ripeness and extraction. They were also very expensive.

These fruit bombs were rapturously received by much of the media and a sector of the public. They were generally categorised as simply cosecha (meaning vintage or harvest) and ignored the traditional system of classification.

More recently there has been a move among smaller, younger producers towards much lighter, more elegant wines with little or no oak ageing. Again these are simply labeled cosecha. They often come from a single vineyard, some are made by whole- berry fermentation, others simply fermented and matured for very short periods in stainless steel or cement.

While I enjoy rioja reserva, I have always been a fan of the less oaky style as well. Tempranillo has such wonderful clean, delicate fruit it is a pity to mask it with too much oak. Having said that, the best of the traditional style are unique wines.

I received a number of excellent samples from the trade for this tasting. Sadly I couldn’t find space for the wonderful LZ de Lanziego (about €20). I also tasted the fine GA2 Graciano from Curious Wines (€17.49), and the excellent Artuke Pies Negros 2014, a wine that features in my book. See wilsononwine.ie for full details of the tasting.

jwilson@irishtimes.com

WINES OF THE WEEK

Artuke 2014, Rioja
13.5%
€15.70

Seductive wine; supple easy sweet ripe strawberry and red cherry fruit, with surprising concentration and depth.

Stockists: Listons, Camden St; 64wine, Glasthule; Clontarf Wines

Cantos de Valpiedra 2012,Rioja,
13%
€18.50/£12.50 This was an excellent cultured modern Rioja, with smooth supple cassis and subtle spice. A real crowd pleaser at a very fair price.

Stockists: jnwine.com

Señorío de Cuzcurrita 2008, Rioja
14%
€20.99

A lovely mature wine with ripe sweet strawberry and dark fruits laced with a soft, dusty earthiness, a little oak, and a fine minerality.

Stockists: Wines on the Green

Tags: Artuke, Cosecha, Crianza, Gran Reserva, Red Wine, Reserba, Rioja, Spain, Telmo Rodriguez, The Irish Times, valpiedra

Posted in: Irish Times

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A WEEKEND’S DRINKING – four wines worth seeking out

Posted by admin on February 9, 2016

Domaine de Begude Chardonnay Terroir 11300, 2014
Haute Vallée de l’Aude 13%

Available for €17.99 from O’Briens

Made from organic grapes by James Begude in the cool climate of Limoux high above Carcassonne, this was one of my favourite white wines of last year. It appeared in Wilson on Wine 2016. 75% of the juice is fermented in stainless steel, the remainder in large 600 litre casks. The result is a beautifully balanced wine with plenty of zesty citrus, plump peaches and apple fruits, and hints of toasted nuts. We drank our bottle on its own as an aperitif, and with some roast chicken. Please don’t be put off by the word Chardonnay; this is a brilliant wine. I can also recommend most of the other wines of Domaine de Begude, which include a Gewurztraminer, a Pinot Noir, and Le Bel Ange,, his entry-level Chablis lookalike. 11300 is a postcode by the way.

Riesling Junge Reben 2013, August Kesseler, Rheingau, 12%

Available for €24.95 from Whelehan’s Wines, Loughlinstown

I love Riesling but generally don’t drink too much of it over the winter months, unless it is fairly rich and full-bodied. However, I wanted something light to sip before dinner, so I cracked open this bottle and was very pleased that I had. Vivid and refreshing with delectable pure Riesling fruit. Herr Kesseler is one of the finest producers of Pinot Noir in Germany, but is no slouch with Riesling either. I think Whelehan’s are currently out of stock of the Pinot Noir, but I would certainly recommend it when it makes their return. In the meantime, you can enjoy this wine, and the excellent Rieslings Lorch (€28.95) for a few euros more.

Artuke Pies Negros 2014, Rioja
14%, €18.90
64wine, Glasthule; Clontarf Wines; Redmonds, Ranelagh; Ennis Butchers, South Circular Road; Wicklow Wine Company.

The previous vintage of this appeared in my book and the 2014 is a worthy follow-on. At first it seemed a little alcoholic, but after half an hour it all came together beautifully. Arturo and Kike (hence the name) Blanco are responsible for this lovely wine. The grapes are trodden by bare feet. The wine is very different to your normal Rioja, with no obvious oak at all, and intense dark fruits and minerals with some tannins on the finish. I suspect it will improve for a year or two, or served in a decanter with food now. Great wine and streets ahead of most Reserva Rioja at the price.

Grégory Pérez Mengoba 2013, Méncia del Espanillo, Bierzo
13.5% €33.50

Available from Sheridan’s Cheese Shops

Having graduated in enology and viticulture in Bordeaux, Grégory Pérez worked in several of the top chateaux before decamping to Bierzo, up in the north-west corner of Spain. This is one of the regions where Méncia is grown. This variety makes some of the most exciting wines in Spain today; they remind me a little of Northern Rhône Syrah with their delicacy and enchanting savoury dark cherry fruits. I tasted the Pérez wines at the SPIT tasting in November and thought both red and white wines were stunning. I haven’t changed my mind. This may be expensive but it is a brilliant wine, nuanced and sophisticated, with wonderful smooth dark cherry fruits, a subtle oakiness, and a lovely finish. I see it has a small proportion of Alicante Bouschet and a white grape variety, Godello, included. Only 3,000 bottles made.

Tags: Artuke, August Kesseler, Chardonnay, Domaine de Begude, France, Germany, Grepory Perez, James Kinglake, Limoux, Méncia, Mengoba, Organic Wine, Pies Negros, Riesling, Rioja, Spain, Vallee de l'Aude

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Artuke 2014, Rioja

Posted by admin on February 5, 2016

Artuke 2014, Rioja
13.5%
€15.70

Delicious wine; ripe strawberries on the nose; supple easy sweet ripe strawberry and red cherry fruit on the palate with surprising concentration and depth. Lovely easy-drinking wine and very much my style. Sadly the retail price of this wine increased to over the €15 mark at the last minute.

I love unoaked Rioja, mainly I suspect, because I like Tempranillo. Too often it is swamped with oak, and you cannot actually taste the grape. Artuke are a producer worth looking out for; based up in the Basque part of Rioja, Rioja Alavesa, Arturo and Kiki (hence the name) are sons of Miguel Blanco who set up the winery. They make a number of single vineyard wines, and Pies Negro, which featured in Wilson on Wine last year.

Available from: Liston’s, Camden St.; 64wine, Glasthule; Clontarf Wines.

Tags: Artuke, Red Wine, Rioja, Spain, Tempranillo

Posted in: Daily Drop

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Ad Libitum 2014 Rioja (White, Organic)

Posted by admin on February 4, 2016

Ad Libitum 2014 Rioja (White, Organic)
12.5%
€16.99

Normally I steer well clear of white Rioja; most of it either tastes of nothing, or has been aged in oak barrels, and therefore tastes of oak and little else. There are exceptions though and this is one. It is made from an obscure mutation of the Tempranillo grape by Juan-Carlos Sancha, professor at the University of Rioja, who discovered the grape and planted it in a small vineyard in Rioja Alata. Sancha also produces a very good red made from Maturana, another unknown variety.

This had unusual but very attractive textured fruits, good acidity and a good dry finish. A great price for an wine with real interest. Light enough to drink on its own, but excellent with white fish. I had mine with fried hake in a herb and lemon butter.