2011 Bodegas Roda Rioja Roda I Reserva

I tasted four vintages of the first wine, starting with the 2011 Roda I, from a very warm, low-yielding and early harvest that tends to deliver ripe and concentrated wines. The varietal breakdown is 91% Tempranillo and 9% Graciano, and it fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured for 16 months in French barriques, 50/50 new and second use. This is the ripest of the four vintages I tasted next to each other, with abundant notes of black cherries, plums and dark spice. The palate reveals abundant, slightly dusty tannins that give it a faintly powdery texture. It needs powerful food. 81,692 bottles were filled in June 2013.