Showing posts with label Matt Kramer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Kramer. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Rioja Experiment, Part 2 - Reserva, Gran Reserva, and a Barbaresco?

Last month, I wrote about the first part of the Rioja experiment. The experiment serves to answer two questions raised from the book, Making Sense of Wine, by veteran wine critic Matt Kramer: 

1. Does Rioja age and evolve well?
2. Does Rioja fit your definition of a great wine?

Kramer's point was that Tempranillo, the dominant grape in Rioja, resists oxidation and is therefore limited in its ability to evolve and develop into secondary and tertiary flavors. This transformative quality is found in grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo.

2014 Hidalgo Gran Reserva
To put Kramer's point to the test, I recruited some friends to taste different vintages of Rioja four to five times over two days. The goal was to observe if the wine transformed during an aging process, simulated by increasing oxygen contact in the bottle. After the last tasting, we met on Zoom to share our tasting notes. 

Below is the selection of Riojas in the Reserva and Gran Reserva classifications for the experiment. The corresponding retail prices were for 750 ml unless otherwise indicated.
  • 2015 Bodegas Muga, Reserva ($35)
  • 2013 Marques de la Concordia Vina Alarde, Reserva ($20)
  • 2012 Hidalgo Tradicion H, Gran Reserva ($20-45)
  • 2007 Marques de la Concordia Vina Alarde Gran Reserva ($30) 
  • 2004 Conde Valdemar Gran Reserva ($165 for magnum)

Reserva

Rioja Reserva classification requires that the wine has had three years of aging with at least one year in the barrel. We tasted two Riojas in this classification. 

The 2015 Bodegas Muga was the youngest wine in the Rioja line-up. It started youthful and aromatic with primary flavors in the form of plum, fig, and black tea. On the second day, it retained its fruit-forwardness with a hint of cherrywood, indicating a bit of the secondary flavor. 

The 2013 Marques de la Concordia started with predominantly dark fruit, such as plum. By the second day, it continued its fruit-forwardness but also picked up some secondary and tertiary flavors with chocolate and tobacco.

Gran Reserva
2004 Conde Valdemar Gran Reserva


Rioja Gran Reserva classification requires that the wine has had five years of aging with at least two years in the barrel. As expected, the three Riojas in the Gran Reserva classification are older vintages than the Reserva.

The 2012 Hidalgo was the youngest Gran Reserva. It started with a lot of fruit, spice, and chocolate, indicative of primary and secondary flavors. By the second day, while retaining cherry and berry in its bouquet, it also picked up more woodiness and tertiary flavors of tobacco from oxidation.

The 2007 Marques de la Concordia was unfortunately past its prime. It quickly lost whatever little life it might have had. The wine turned from lemon juice (not what you want in a red wine) and tobacco on the first day to vinegar and funk on the second day. Prior to its quick decline, we did observe some tertiary flavors in the form of tobacco and leather.

While the 2004 Conde Valdemar was the oldest Gran Reserva in the experiment, the larger format bottle with less oxygen contact allowed the wine to age more gracefully. It was surprisingly youthful for a 16-year-old wine. It greeted us with a concentrated perfume-y bouquet of cherry and plum. By the second day, its liveliness and fruit-forwardness continued with a dominance in dried fruit, such as prune and fig. If there were secondary and tertiary flavors, they were overshadowed by the abundance of fruit and luscious mouthfeel with velvety soft tannins.

And a Barbaresco?

OK, for those of you who know me, I love to sneak in Nebbiolo where I can. And I can! 

Nebbiolo, the grape behind Barbaresco and Barolo, is known for its ability to evolve and transform over time. For fun, we added the 2016 La Ca' Nova Barbaresco to compare with the 2015 Muga Reserva. Both were close in vintage and price range. 

Nebbiolo vs. Tempranillo
When first opened, the Barbaresco smelled like a burnt matchstick, likely from sulfur bi-product. This quickly dissipated and was replaced by a complex flavor profile of plum, berry, pomegranate, tea, vanilla, caramel, and leather - a reflection of primary, secondary, and tertiary flavors. 

By the next day, the flavor profile had evolved to plum, fig, and cherry Jolly Rancho, layered with bell pepper, earth, mushroom, Marmite, and a hint of cocoa. 

The Conclusion

Does Rioja age and evolve well? When well made and in the right vintage, a Rioja definitely ages well and can even go on for 25 years. While the 2007 Marques de la Concordia Gran Reserva was unfortunately past its prime, the 2004 Conde Valdemar was still youthful and delicious. 

Tasting through the Riojas of Gran Reserva and Reserva classifications of varying vintages, it is fair to conclude that Tempranillo makes extremely fruit-forward wine that might overshadow its secondary and tertiary flavors. The primary flavors range from fresh fruit, such as plum and cherry, to dried fruit, such as prunes and raisins. There are hints of secondary and tertiary flavors in older Riojas, like chocolate, leather, and tobacco. 

Food loves Rioja
Does Rioja fit your definition of a great wine? While it may not share the ever-evolving and complex flavors of a Barbaresco or Barolo, Rioja is a delicious wine and is eager to please. It pairs well with many dishes, from a myriad of tapas to vegetable curry, chicken tagine, and even a rack of lamb. It is also a pleasure to drink on its own. Rioja is like the good friend with whom you can go to a big work party, a small family gathering with that awkward drunk uncle, or even just to hang out alone.

What about Kramer?

Matt Kramer revisited his view on Rioja in his article "What Makes a Great Wine?" in the June 15, 2018 issue of the Wine Spectator. He had since relaxed his opinion on the transforming ability of a grape to qualify its greatness. Kramer ultimately conceded that the elegance and smoothness of Rioja were adequate to make it a great wine.

What do you think?

Sunday, May 31, 2020

The Rioja Experiment, Part 1

Is Rioja a great wine?

Matt Kramer, a veteran wine critic, once made a bold claim to the contrary. In his book, Making Sense of Wine, published in 1989, Kramer mentioned that the best wines do not age so much as they transform. He also noted that while Tempranillo, the main grape in Rioja, makes age-worthy wines, it does not transform with age.

Reserva & Grand Reserva
Rioja's age-worthiness is a well-known fact. The famous Spanish red is classified by how long it is aged prior to release:
  • Generic (or Joven) - No aging requirement
  • Crianza - Two years of aging, with at least one year in barrel
  • Reserva - Three years of aging, with at least one year in barrel
  • Gran Reserva - Five years of aging, with at least two years in barrel

Generally, the higher quality grapes will be aged longer and are designated for the higher classification. However, Kramer claims that because Tempranillo resists oxidation more so than other grapes, it is limited in its ability to transform and evolve into secondary and tertiary flavors that you would normally find in a Cabernet Sauvignon or my personal favorite, Nebbiolo.

Let's unpack what all this means.

Wine has a love-hate relationship with oxygen. Oxygen at the right level plays a critical role in wine making and maturation. If you think of wine as a living product, which many wine geeks do, oxygen is the catalyst that helps the wine mature and evolve.

Too little oxygen, the wine becomes reduced and develops a skunky aroma. Too much, the wine becomes oxidized, which translates to a sherry-like aroma with a vinegar taste. Like any living thing, a wine may start off young, mature and peak over time, and eventually tire and expire.

Letting wine breathe is allowing oxygen to wake up its flavors

As wine matures with the perfect Goldilocks-level of oxygen, the tannins in wine will become softer. The aromas will develop from primary to secondary and tertiary flavors. A well-made wine with the right grape(s) develops a complex flavor profile as it ages. Some examples of the flavor profile include:
  • Primary flavors (from the fruit and primary fermentation) - Fruit, floral, herb, mineral
  • Secondary flavors (from secondary fermentation and the barrel) - Bread, cream, wood, spice, coffee
  • Tertiary flavors (from aging and oxidation) - Leather, tobacco, nuttiness, mushroom, earthy
So I recruited some friends to help me do a two-day social-distancing experiment to taste through the simulated aging process of Rioja. We each picked a Rioja of our choice that has at least a Reserva classification and tasted it about 4-5 times over two days. Each tasting would be about 6 hours apart. A bottle of Barbaresco was also added to the mix for comparison.

Rioja Experiment

The goal of the experiment is to answer two questions:

1. Does Rioja age and evolve well?
2. Does Rioja fit your definition of a great wine? 

We completed the experiment and are in the process of sharing our observations. We will do the big reveal in the next post. In the meantime, I'd love it if you try this experiment along with us. Feel free to drop me a note with your observations as well. I look forward to hearing from you and sharing our results.

Salut!