Roda I Reserva 2018 Magnum

Roda I Reserva Rioja, Spain, Magnum, 2018     

Grapes: 92% Tempranillo, 6% Graciano, 2% Garnacha. Bush vines over 30 years old. Hand harvested. Egg white clarification. 16 months' ageing in barrels (50% each in new & second use French oak) and 20 months cellaring in bottle.

Producer Tasting Note: 

Colour: Deep and vivid red with a red rim. Less opaque than other warmer and drier vintages.

Nose: It's intense, with perfectly integrated oak that leaves elegant touches. The fruity note is simultaneously black and red, reminiscent of plums and fresh cherries. There are fine sweet spices in the range of cinnamon and cloves. The nose is rounded off with the freshness of damp earth on a rainy day.

Palate: It has a medium and continuous volume, without troughs, and highlights the freshness. There is plenty of fruit on the palate, with the cherry standing out over the plum. It evokes memories of the part of the fruit that is next to the pit. Fresh and enveloping at the same time, with fine, lively tannins that mark a nervy line in the wine. It has the length of Atlantic vintages, where freshness is maintained and liveliness is present. This will be a wine for long ageing, whose details will become even more nuanced in the bottle.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"The 2018 Roda I is in line with the other 2018s, lower alcohol, grainier tannins and a little more earthy rusticity that to me translates into more character and less polished wines. This was a blend of 92% Tempranillo, 6% Graciano and 2% Garnacha from 30+-year-old vines mostly around Haro that are selected because they deliver black rather than red fruit. It's a red with 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.68. It was filled into 137,199 bottles in July 2020." Drink 2022-2030

94/100 points, Luis Gutiérrez, WINE ADVOCATE, July 2022

"A very elegant Rioja, one that has been raved about for a long time. Even in the glass, it glows a brilliant ruby ​​red. The complex bouquet impresses with ripe black cherries and plenty of blackberry. The barrel aging is clearly noticeable, and the team here knows how to handle it very well. Aromas of cedar wood, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and plenty of appealing violet tones. On the palate, the wine is concentrated, yet with beautiful finesse, rather fresh and straightforward; full of lightness. This is what Rioja should taste like."

18/20 points, Vinum Wine Magazine, October 2023

Serve at room temperature with venison medallions and puréed winter root vegetables.