2007 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904

Opening a Mag of this Saturday and wondering what people would pair with it. Not really a meal… more just picking, tapas style.

the LRA 904s I’ve had you could have paired with literally just about anything and it would have still been fantastic. but how heavy and labor intensive are you willing to go on tapas?

To me, a steak cooked on the grill and grilled veggies. The oak and savory flavors of this wine seem to go well with that kind of food.

awesome. not very to be honest. The things I have had in mind so far are nearly no work. One thing I was leaning towards was lamb.

any veggies in particular you would recommend?

Mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper? Really probably any mix of grillable vegetables (even asparagus, though many would balk at that)…in any event, with some reasonably bold seasoning (plenty of salt, garlic powder, and black pepper for example). It’s not a timid wine and can handle big flavour.

Joseph,
Ditto John’s advice re veggies. I don’t think you have to get too particular or specialized here as long it’s not some subtle French-style veggie mousse / foam that is extremely subtle or delicate. A couple of other options John didn’t mention specifically:

  • broccolini pan-roasted with salt, pepper, olive oil, and red pepper flakes;
  • carrots sauteed pan-roasted with butter and given a drizzle of balsamic glaze after roasted

After trying several of the wines at LRA last September, our family had a delicious lunch in the nearby town of Haro. Nothing fancy about this place but if you look at some of the food options, you can’t go wrong. ‘El Antojo del Gallo’ or the craving of the rooster. Bean soup, pickled peppers, grilled meats, Iberico on bread. I ordered Morcilla or Spanish blood sausage for the table and it was delicious…but any sausage would work. Enjoy the delicious wine!

https://g.co/kgs/hh4WpX

Great! Thanks for the tips. Going to get some veggies in the mix and enjoy the hell out of my Saturday.

semolina bread with basil infused oil
olives
manchego
prosciutto
chorizo

lamb
mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper (heavy on the seasoning)

I would grill some red, yellow and green peppers along with the meat and go from there. Or some Portobello mushrooms. Enjoy the magnum!

Ed

if you’re doing veggies, consider making a romesco sauce for them! its a delicious sauce with veggies, meat, OR starches.

Thank you for the tips everyone. It was a great dinner and a great wine.

Bought another bottle to put away for another 10 years, but it came damaged from shipping. minor chip on the edge of it, very slight loss of wine through the cork. Any thoughts on whether or not it might still be drinkable? Also, any ideas on where I can get another? Haven’t been able to find another 2007

first link is the menu… the next 4 are the damage to the bottle I just bought.

I like these wines when they are 10 to 15 years old. They are great with steak. Great with any grilled meat.

At 50 years old, these wines will change your life. FWIW. 1968 last year was life affirming.

cant imagine I will be fortunate enough to taste a 1960s. there are some 80s out there that I might snag though.

Do you have any thoughts on 890 vs 904?

Gordon’s has it for 59/750 mL.

I’d consider putting away lots of the 10s.

definitely going to grab a few 10s to put away. Thanks for the tip on Gordons. I actually bought taht bottle a week ago but they said they had bad inventory… cant seem to catch a break on this bottle right now. Below is the email I got back. had to cancel my whole order.

"My apologies, it appears there are several errors in our inventory. The RIOJA ALTA GRAN RESERVA 904 2007 750 ML, LA RIOJA ALTA GRAN RESERVA 904 2005 1.5 LTR, and ZENATO VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO SUPERIORE DOC 2016 750 ML are currently out of stock.

There were also several vintage differences, the item numbers and pricing are the same so if you are ok with the differences I can process those items as is.

MARCHESI DI BAROLO BARBERA MARAIA 2015 ->2017
VIETTI BARBERA D’ASTI TRE VIGNE 2017 → 2018
DEL PINO LANGHE NEBBIOLO 2016 → 2018
RIOJA ALTA RIOJA RESERVA VINA ALBERDI 2012 → 2015
VIETTI NEBBIOLO PERBACCO 2016 → 2017"