Wine & Spirits - Winter 2023 - 72

Reds from Rioja
Our blind panels tasted 183 red wines from
Rioja for this issue. W&S Editor Joshua
Greene rated 43 as exceptional, and 14 as
Best Buys. Find a complete list of wines and
reviews at wineandspiritsmagazine.com.
95 | Carlos Moro
$40
2019 Rioja CM Matarromera ^ Carlos Moro
founded Bodegas Matarromera in 1988 and
leveraged his success in Ribera del Duero to
launch projects throughout northern Spain.
In 2014, he settled in San Vicente de la Sonsierra,
in the hills of Rioja Alta, and this 2019
is the first high-water mark for the project
in our tastings. This tastes like a mountaingrown
wine in its firm tannic structure, while
the generosity of the vintage completely
smothers the grip of those tannins in lush
fruit. It's magically delicious as only Rioja can
be, with a persimmon-like spice to the red
fruit that lasts into the finish. These elements
add lift for so many foods, whether a grilled
whole fish stuffed with herbs, roasted maitake
mushrooms, or just a pan-seared hanger
steak. § Solera Imports, Miami, FL
95 | Muga
$55
2019 Rioja Reserva Selección Especial ^
Black, somber and rich, this has the gravitas
of old-fashioned Rioja. Selección Especial is
made primarily from vineyards in the hills
stretching from Villalba to Abalos, after the
first cut from those lots goes to Torre Muga.
These parcels, close to the mountains, are
influenced by limestone in the soils, while
two others, including a cool, north-facing
parcel, add fruit from clay soils to the blend.
That coolness shows up against the warm
scent of rosemary and Mediterranean scrub,
alongside this wine's blueberry-skin tannins.
Youthfully suppressed, it's concentrated and
substantial, suited to long aging. If you open
it now, decant it long before dinner with a
butterflied leg of lamb grilled with rosemary
stalks. § Jorge Ordóñez Selections, Dedham, MA
94 | R. López de Heredia $56
2011 Rioja Viña Tondonia Reserva ^ If you
love traditional Rioja, Tondonia Reserva
delivers from 2011, tight and floral, light
and meaty with complexity that doesn't stop.
This is estate grown on a meander of the Ebro
near the winery in Haro, where the López de
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WINE & SPIR IT S
Heredia family ferments this juice with ambient
yeasts in large oak vats, then rests it in
old barrels before long aging in bottle. Silken
in texture with notes of oak and an edge of
volatility, this is a mouthwatering Rioja that's
about as versatile a red wine as you can find. §
Think Global Wines, Santa Barbara , CA
94 | Sierra Cantabria
$50
2015 Rioja Gran Reserva ^ " This starts airy
then goes subterranean, " noted panelist
Michael Kowalski: It's a vibrant wine with
dynamic energy and earthen power, more
about earth than fruit. Grown at estate vineyards
in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, aged in
American oak barrels for two years (25 percent
of them new), this still feels youthful at
eight years old, ready to open further with
age. § Jorge Ordóñez Selections, Dedham, MA
94 | Sierra Cantabria
$185
2020 Rioja Finca el Bosque ^ The Eguren
family planted this 3.45-acre parcel of tempranillo
in 1973, its elevation rising to 1,640
feet on the gravelly soils above the Ebro River
in Laguardia. Marcos Eguren ferments this
wine in large oak casks and ages most all
of it in new French oak barriques, adding a
touch of sweetness to the savory green-olivelike
tannins. This is powerful and saturated,
draped in blue-black fruit, still holding the
cool restraint of a high-elevation Rioja. The
structure bodes well for long term aging. Or
enjoy it now for its puppy-like energy. § Jorge
Ordóñez Selections, Dedham, MA
93 | Finca Allende
$320
2016 Rioja Aurus ^ Southwest of Briones,
the 60-year-old vines at Aurus face north. In
2016, their sweet fruit is almost crimson red,
completely integrated with the tannins. " It's
a statement wine, " said Berkshire sommelier
Michael Kowalski. " The piano pedal gives an
initial heavy chord, then it lifts and becomes
lighter. " As that chord lifts, it leaves a depth
of flavor that evolves in the end, the wine
leaving room for meaty braises, especially
game. § Trinchero Family Estates, St-Helena, CA
93 | Diez-Caballero
W INTER 2023
$40
2020 Rioja Crianza Vino de Elciego ^ Antonio
Diez-Caballero grows the fruit for this
wine at his family's estate vineyard in Elciego,
in Rioja Alavesa. His 2020 has amplitude and
volume, and the stamina to hold it fast. Red
and black fruit meets lithe, green-peppercorn
spice, the wine young and fresh in its juicy
explosiveness. § V&N Cellars, Zionsville, IN
93 | La Rioja Alta
$44
2019 Rioja Finca Martelo Reserva ^ Though
the winery's name may be La Rioja Alta, this
wine comes from Alavesa, grown at a parcel
of 60-year-old vines at the Torre de Oña
estate, in La Rioja Alta's stable since 1995.
Organically farmed at 2,060 feet in elevation,
this 2019 leans into scents of rhubarb
grown in a barnyard, with the horses there
to fertilize it. The fruit has a cool red-berry
granita character and a lasting floral grape
skin finish. An intriguing old-fashioned Rioja
to decant for grilled lamb. § La Rioja Alta, NY
93 | López de Haro
$90
2004 Rioja Gran Reserva Classica ^ This
was the second vintage made at José Miguel
Arambarri Terrero's Vintae project, now run
by his son, Richi. It may well be the best wine
we've tasted from López de Haro. Tight, with
a gentle nonchalance, this is the kind of oldfashioned
Iberian red that, at 20 years old,
would have populated a lot of restaurant lists
in Spain in the 1980s. You can breathe in the
complexity of its tense red fruit, with a lasting
wild-mushroom savor that suggests a pairing
with setas. § Vintae USA, Napa, CA
93 | Marqués de Caceres $30
2017 Rioja Reserva ^ An impressive wine
from a challenging vintage, this has some
power and intensity, even as it leans into
dried-fruit flavors. The fruit is shaded by a
dark woodland tone, like pine needles on the
forest floor, highlighting the richness of its
wood aging. Warm and austere, complex and
satisfying, especially with grilled baby lamb. §
Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL
93 | Ramírez de la Piscina $26
2018 Rioja Reserva (BEST BUY) ^ Black and
smoky, this is potently reduced when first
poured, the flavors blanketed in the scent of
rubber-meeting-the-road. A day later, that
reduction begins to recede, revealing a concentrated
wine, deep in tone and saturated
with red- and black-currant fruit. It's mouthwatering
if you decant it the morning before
you plan to serve it, perhaps with red-cooked
beef, but the wine needs years to fully evolve. §
Jorge Ordóñez Selections, Dedham, MA
93 | Ramirez de la Piscina $32
2019 Rioja Selección Reserva ^ Rocky with
mineral spice, this has a cool feel to its acidity,
cutting through the wine's density and
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