2010 - Roda Roda I Reserva, Rioja

Cropped from an excellent vintage that has produced many great, fresh and balanced wines, my expectations for the 2010 Roda I were high. There is some 2% Graciano to complement the majority of Tempranillo, from vines that are 30+ years old and yielded no more than 1.5 kilograms of grapes per plant. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in French oak vats and matured in 50/50 new and second use French oak barrels for 16 months. I don't know if you can still follow the rule that says, "Roda I is black fruit, and Roda is red fruit." I see this 2010 as more classical than ever—elegant, polished and with a developed nose of forest floor, truffle, iron, blood and iodine, faintly smoky but still keeping traces of fruit. The palate has focused, pungent and persistent flavors, very fine and mostly resolved tannins and a nice texture, lifted by integrated acidity. This should develop even further in bottle—and for a long time! 96,493 bottles produced. Agustín Santolaya, from Roda, considers this to be their finest wine ever (together with the 2001), and I can only agree!

(fermentation and malo in foudre and 16 months of aging in French oak barriques, half of them new) Dark ruby. Intensely perfumed aromas of black/blue fruit liqueur, mocha and incense, along with subtle cola and smoky oak nuances that expand in the glass. Sappy, concentrated and seamless on the palate, offering deeply intense blackberry, cherry-vanilla and floral pastille flavors that are given spine and lift by a core of juicy acidity. Delivers a suave blend of richness and finesse and finishes impressively long and sweet, with harmonious tannins adding gentle grip.