1985 Rioja Gran Reserva 904

This winery's top of the line offerings are the Gran Reservas. The 1985 Gran Reserva 904 exhibits a medium deep ruby color with considerable garnet and rust at the edge. The aromatics are extremely intense and compelling, offering up scents of plum-like fruit intermixed with smoke, minerals, tobacco, cherries, earth, and licorice. There is a sweet, rich impression on the palate, without any sense of heaviness or austere tannin. The wine is fresh and lively, but possesses the mature, sweet, smoky, Graves-like style of a top Rioja. Medium-bodied, beautifully concentrated and layered, as well as fully mature, it should keep for another decade. This is an exceptional example of an old school Spanish Rioja that was aged in different-sized oak vessels, and not released until it had reached full maturity. If readers think the price is high, consider the fact that this bodegas has aged the wine for the consumer, rather than asking you to buy it as a "future" in 1982 and hold it for 15 years before drinking it. The traditionally made Spanish wines from this bodega are successful. However, readers looking for more internationally-styled Spanish reds that have saturated ruby/purple colors, and grapy personalities are advised that this bodega emphasizes the more mature, aged character of Spanish Rioja, with mature garnet colors with rust at the edge, and fragrant, intense, evolved aromatic profiles. Importer: A Christopher Cannan Selection, Europvin USA, Watertown, MA; tel. (617) 924-7620

This winery's top of the line offerings are the Gran Reservas. The 1985 Gran Reserva 904 exhibits a medium deep ruby color with considerable garnet and rust at the edge. The aromatics are extremely intense and compelling, offering up scents of plum-like fruit intermixed with smoke, minerals, tobacco, cherries, earth, and licorice. There is a sweet, rich impression on the palate, without any sense of heaviness or austere tannin. The wine is fresh and lively, but possesses the mature, sweet, smoky, Graves-like style of a top Rioja. Medium-bodied, beautifully concentrated and layered, as well as fully mature, it should keep for another decade. This is an exceptional example of an old school Spanish Rioja that was aged in different-sized oak vessels, and not released until it had reached full maturity. If readers think the price is high, consider the fact that this bodegas has aged the wine for the consumer, rather than asking you to buy it as a "future" in 1982 and hold it for 15 years before drinking it.||The traditionally made Spanish wines from this bodega are successful. However, readers looking for more internationally-styled Spanish reds that have saturated ruby/purple colors, and grapy personalities are advised that this bodega emphasizes the more mature, aged character of Spanish Rioja, with mature garnet colors with rust at the edge, and fragrant, intense, evolved aromatic profiles. Wine Advocate.October, 1997