R. Lopez de Heredia Viña Cubillo 2016, Rioja, Spain

My first post here as a longtime lurker!

TL;DR below.

Paired with a bowl of Hamburger Helper Tomato Basil Penne because my lovely partner is out of town, and while I love being able to cook her what I would call relatively decent Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta, Penne a la Vodka, pan-seared salmon, and so on, Hamburger Helper is an absolute delicacy to me and this is the only chance I’ll get.

I love exploring the infinite world of wine, never to be fully explored in one lifetime, but the region I will always return to the most and have the fondest feelings for is Rioja. The red wines here are, for my palate, the most tantalizing, gripping, and enticing wines you can get while staying within a humble budget. There is an elegant bravado, a bold yet graceful machismo, to a good Rioja that I cannot find anywhere else.

This Crianza from the world-renowned, needs-no-introduction Lopez de Heredia is exemplary of those qualities that made me fall madly in love with wine when I tried my first Rioja (2010 Faustino I Gran Reserva to be exact). The Reserva is still on my bucket list, and I will probably treat myself to it soon, but this was a fun find at a wine/spirits store while I was out of town which I havent seen in any of my local shops and I couldn’t resist.

There is a slight but daring musk that greets you when smelling the cork, an earthy invitation to dance with this flamboyant and charged youngster (though being a 2016 which spent 3 years in oak, this Crianza has got more age on it than it lets on). In the glass, that oak makes its presence known without stealing the show from the notes of plum, cherry, blackberry, and licorice, all wrapped up in savory undertones that I can’t quite place.

This thing really develops with time in the glass, and dances briskly so that each inhale brings a different experience. Throughout this dance, you may find notes of vanilla, chocolate, caramel, raspberry, and cola.

On the palate, there is luscious cherry, raspberry, vanilla, slight plum, and distinct tobacco kick on the finish. Slight earthiness and some spice can be found, though as with the nose, its harder for me to place these exact notes. It is precisely this mystery that keeps me coming back for more! Grippy tannins and bright acidity blanket the palate, which genuinely pairs well with this Hamburger Helper, as trashy as it may be.

A beautiful and powerful wine, as playful as it is serious. A wonderful purchase at $26 from a store I only wandered into while I was on the outskirts of town grabbing some Mothers Day gifts last week.

TL;DR

Price: $26

Grapes: 65% Tempranillo, 25% Garnacho, 10% Graciano & Mazuelo

Nose: plum, cherry, blackberry, licorice, oak, vanilla, chocolate, raspberry, cola

Palate: cherry, oak, raspberry, vanilla, plum, tobacco, earthy, spice

Medium-high tannins

Medium+ acidity

Rating: 4.3/5