A Gran Reserva
red Rioja from the bodega Paternina.
Elegant but also big, with mostly resolved tannins, a
little truffley and pencilly when we open it, it’s more savoury than fruit-driven;
what fruit there is is more orange than brambles. Not especially oxidative for
a maturing Rioja. DL, not normally given to maturing wine overlong, remarks
that this is still meaty and might quite be quite happy in the cellar for
another 20 years. I’d have to concur, given that good Rioja can cellar for very
long times.
When we open it, it’s relatively restrained, but there’s
an amazing amount of evolution over the evening; it goes through liquorice and after
an hour, it’s a gamey, raging mix of mushrooms and sweetbreads. (I’ve noticed
before that older wines from this bodega do get very, very mushroomy.) I love
it – I’m trying to decide if this is the best Rioja I’ve had to date, and I think
it may be.
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