I think a few people have mentioned Remelluri. I’ve had great results with both their Reserva and Gran Reserva. I went through a couple of cases of the ‘99 Gran Reserva over the past two years that were consistently excellent. And a ‘89 Gran Reserva that was also drinking beautifully.
Remelluri wines are excellent and the vineyards and estate are something completely different from the rest of Rioja, especially the farming. Telmo is trying to re-shape the concept of Rioja to one of place rather than ageing and blending in the winery. Telmo is a smart and interesting guy who travels a lot. If you get a chance to attend a dinner or tasting with him, you should jump at it.
I’m surprised that so many folks here who favor artisinal growers in other regions favor huge houses here where the wine is made more in the winery than the vineyard.
Another producer I really like is Conde de Hervías and the less expensive Mencos. The wine includes a couple of plots of pre-phylloxera vines that were a site to behold.
De Maison Selections* has a cool map of the soil types for Rioja on their website: https://demaisonselections.com/rioja.html
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- I am friends with the owner of this company.
Interesting thread. Speaking of Telmo Rodriguez, I’d be curious about people’s impressions of his Lanzaga wines - Las Beatas, Tabuerniga, La Estrada, El Velado, etc. Certain critics rave about these, and of course Telmo is highly regarded as a winemaker.
Too early to say for sure, but are these wines that will develop well, and are they likely to develop in the same way as wines made by the other - “traditional” - producers we’re talking about do (LdH, LRA, etc…)?
Never been disappointed by any Ygay. I buy it almost every year in some small quantity. It ages beautifully and is, in my opinion, excellent young with a steak.
One of the local Toronto crew is a big fan of Telmo Rodriguez and has opened numerous bottles of his various wines at offlines. He’s certainly prolific, and his wines are always intriguing. I particularly like his line of Lanzaga Rioja. I have the entry level “LZ”, the “Lanzaga” and “Altos de Lanzaga” in my cellar.
Just saw this. I haven’t tried the “Bodegas Lanzaga” wines, but have tried the Langazas bottled under his own name. The “LZ” is the entry level wine and is an early drinker. A great cellar defender. I haven’t tried the “Lanzagas” with much age; the oldest bottle I’ve opened was the 2009. All the bottles I’ve opened have been very approachable and enjoyable. But my impression is that the “Telmo Rodriguez” labelled Lanzagas are really meant for drinking in the medium term - say 7-15 years from vintage.
1978 was a fantastic vintage in Rioja. It also happens to be my wife’s birth year, so we’ve had a few bottles and can attest to the great ageability of the following producers in rough order of preference;
CVNE
Remelluri
Muga
Marques de Riscal
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During a visit about 5 years ago at Remelluri, I learned about their “unique” agricultural technique as much more based on respect for land and nature (my own words as I can’t recall the exact phrases they told me). Even the low-key, but beautiful, property itself is a fresh and traditional diversion from the grand/modern/big-production styles of most of the structures by wineries in the region. But at the same time, Remelluri seem to also pride themselves on the mostly modern wine-making techniques that they employ in the cellars.
I’ve had/tasted their reds with age from vintages in 80s and mid-90s, they were polished and well-made with leaning toward the modern style. They did not have the same level of appeal to me as, say, similar vintages from larger but more traditional-in-style houses in LdH, Murrieta (Ygay), and Muga. Having said that, I will not refuse if their reds were poured for me.
I find Remelluri’s white wine the more interesting and which I really enjoyed and it’s the one that I started seeking out since.
Stumbled upon this today at Specs (massive Texas retailer) but it was twice that price unfortunately. Could be the tariff effect or just the three-tiered distribution monster we have here.
Hmmm…at double the price, you could probably get better and/or more mature Riojan reds than that then.
I know Specs, by the way. I used to order some Trappist ales from one of their shops to send to a friend who lives in Katy.
lra 904. Love their wines. My favorite in Spain!
i put away 3 more 2010 especial and 904
And couldn’t be more wrong, in this case. That’s pretty typical of that sort of reaction, I guess.
Did you check out the sarcophogus on the property? They were amazing.
I had an experimental white there that he was aging in an old LdH barrel hoping to get the same flor. But the white is super interesting.
I think a good analog for Remelluri is something like Allemand. The winemaking has modern polish but the effort is distinctly traditional. Maybe not Allemand level (or maybe it is), but that spirit.
I can’t quite recall seeing a sarcophagus, but I remember that there was an ancient burial grounds in the property, like holes carved into rocks. I also remember a very old chapel.
Prado Enea is one of the greatest wines made in the world today - and may be near the top in terms of global QPR for what you get in the bottle.
I love both ends of the Muga spectrum from Torre Muga to Prado Enea with the later being my preference.
I just realized that I actually bought 8 more bottles of the 2010 904 than I thought… oops
I’m a LdH/older CVNE guy. But I had a great visit with Isaac Muga last June, where he opened both ‘78 Prado Enea and ‘98 Torre Muga among others. What surprised me is how much I liked the Torre Muga. I had never had one with some age. They are way over the top young. The ‘98 TM and ‘78 Prado Enea were much closer in profile — though TM had more fruit, bigger, less tertiary — than either was to new release ‘11 PE and ‘14 Torre Muga.
I really don’t like ‘890 and ‘904. I’ve never had one where I thought the oak was tolerable, even with decades in bottle. Ardanza and Albina are better but IMO not in the same complexity league with LdH or Imperial or old Viña Real or Muga PE or TM or old Monte Real.