The value on this bottle is bonkers. $25 at the local shop. I’ll be buying a few after this.
Heavy tertiary notes. Smoked tamari, dried dark red fruit. Tannins are in ideal balance with acid. I wish I had a thick-cut pork chop to pair.
I don’t have a lot of experience with Rioja reserva. It seems like the current release is 2020. This bottle is beautiful at the moment. Does anyone have any advice on drinking windows for a 2015 vintage? I plan to buy more.
I know it’s an inexpensive bottle, but I can imagine potential benefits with more time in the cellar.
by LoKumquat
3 Comments
Rioja is great value for money. For under $30 you are hard pressed to find a better ready to drink bottle. Maybe some good Cote Du Rhones but Rioja is much more reliable in my opinion.
Rioja is ready to drink upon release. They have strict rules about aging in that region. Grand reserva is aged the most if you want more age. After release it’s up to you how you like your wine. Good Rioja can go years if you want it to but it’s really personal preference.
These wines will honestly last far longer than you would believe, Don’t let their price point fool you. They had some TCA problems in the cellar maybe 20 years ago but it’s okay now.
I had the 2015 young with a steak and bought some of their much harder to find higher end bottlings afterwards. The current release just came out and some of the mass market guys are selling it for as low as 16 bucks a bottle. If you like classic savory balsamic old school Rioja that’s worth a six pack.
I tried this one back in 2022 , and it was quite good, I imagine years did wonders to it, I wonder how the 2016 is , because on release it was excellent .