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Valenciso, Rioja Reserva

La Rioja, Spain 2011 (750mL)
$35.00
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Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol

Valenciso, Rioja Reserva

Whenever I encounter a wine like today’s, I marvel anew at how much inventory sits in the typical Rioja bodega at any given time. Upper-end Rioja reds, such as Reservas and Gran Reservas, are some of the very best red wine values in the world.


Where else do a region’s producers—as a rule—age the wine for years before they sell it to you? And then when they do, they do so at a reasonable price? Today’s extremely reasonable 2011 Reserva from Valenciso is a case in point: We tasted this red, and re-tasted it, and tasted it some more, growing ever more enthralled with its luxurious texture, dark fruits, and savory bass notes—and expecting its price tag to be much, much higher. When the actual price was revealed, well, next thing you know we’re singing its praises to you! It is extremely refined, but also full of soul, soil character, and the first signs of maturity. In other words, it’s a lot of wine for the money and the perfect red to stave off this stubbornly cold winter!


In fact, as I write this my taste memory of the wine is still vivid. A lot of modern Rioja wine is driven first and foremost by oak—usually American barrels, which have long been the cooperage of choice for Spanish vintners (and an aromatic tipoff for Rioja in blind tasting exams, with their telltale notes of coconut and dill). Take a dark, tannic variety such as Rioja, age it in new oak, and very often what you get is a chunky, chocolatey behemoth without much in the way of complexity. But a wine can be ripe, modern, aged in new oak, and still be elegant, full of aromatic intrigue, and a sense of the soil it was grown in. It happens all the time, and it has happened with Valenciso’s 2011.



The Valenciso property was founded in 1998 by Rioja natives and wine-industry veterans Luís Valentin and Carmen Enciso, who merged their surnames to create their label. Their beautifully appointed winery is in the village of Ollauri, just south of Rioja’s “anchor” town, Haro. Their vineyards are rooted in the chalky-clay soils typical of the Haro area, which sits at the northwestern extreme of the Rioja DO. Just as the clay/limestone combination lends great nerve to the red wines of Burgundy, it helps mitigate the dark-fruited intensity of Tempranillo by way of a wave of freshness and minerality. This 2011 is neither jammy nor overly redolent of oak.



As for that oak, the wine spent about 18 months in French oak barriques, one-third of which were new—followed by a year in cement vats and a year in bottle before its initial release. It has since had more time in bottle to integrate, and is firing on all cylinders right now: In the glass, it’s a lustrous, nearly opaque ruby-purple with slight hints of garnet and brick orange, with explosive aromas of sweet and sour cherries, black currant, mulberry, leather, cedar, sandalwood, and an appealing roasted meat note that sends you briefly to the northern Rhône. It is medium-plus in body, with tannins now the consistency of espresso grounds and baking spice accent notes from the oak. One of the many glowing press reviews I read of this wine described it as smelling and tasting “like the food you might encounter at a dinner in Rioja.” In that spirit, I say decant this wine about 45 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Bordeaux stems alongside a classic Riojana preparation like grilled, herbed lamb chops. Get some good char on them and let this wine work its magic. There’s a lot to like here. Enjoy!

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Country
Spain
Region
La Rioja
Sub-Region
SpainRioja Alta
Soil
Clay & Limestone
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Tempranillo 100%
Alcohol
14.0
OAK
33% New French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Bordeaux Stems
Drinking
Now-2030
Decanting
45 Minutes
Pairing
Grilled Herbed Baby Lamb Chops

Spain

Eastern Spain

Montsant

The Montsant DO is Priorat’s downslope neighbor in northeastern
Spain, but other than differences in altitude, there isn’t much else to tell their terroirs apart. Both appellations contain some of the world’s greatest old-vine Garnacha (Grenache) in soils of fractured granite and shale known locally as llicorella. It is a Mediterranean climate, with wide diurnal temperature swings.

Eastern Spain

Penedès

Technically, a wine labeled ‘Cava’ can be produced in several different regions, but Penedès, on Spain’s northern Mediterranean coast, is its
spiritual home. The climate is Mediterranean, the soils a favorable mix of limestone (key in pre-serving acids), sand, and clay, and Cava sparklers are crafted in the traditional ‘Champagne’ method. The traditional grapes used for Cava are Xarel-lo (cha-RAY-yo), Macabeu, and Parellada.

Northwestern Spain

Galicia

Galicia is lusher, colder, wetter, and greener than most of the rest of Spain, especially where wine-growing
is concerned. Viticulture up here is some of the most “heroic” in the world, as vineyards cling to impossibly steep slopes along snaking rivers such as the Miño and
the Sil. The influence of the Atlantic Ocean is profound, often lending wines a salty, “sea spray” character.

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