Spanish Rioja Tasting, with Tapas

Our wine group met Saturday afternoon on top of a Marrakesh terrace, enjoying the afternoon spring sunshine. We blind-tasted three different Spanish Riojas, plus a fourth “surprise” Chinese red wine that was thrown in!

Rioja Wine-Growing Regions: Above, the Rioja Alta. Below, the Rioja Baja.

La Rioja is the smallest of all of Spain’s mainland wine-growing regions. It is located in northern Spain, slightly southeast of Bilbao, and considerably west of Barcelona, on the upper Ebro River Valley. Even with Rioja’s small size, it is one of Spain’s best-known wine-growing regions, with a well-deserved reputation. In the past, Riojas had a reputation of being a heavy, oak-aged red. Now many are fruity and more easily drinkable.

Siglo Rioja Crianza 2004 (13%), turned out to be the best of the entire group. It’s color was a dark garnet, very dark, and slightly transparent. It smelled lightly of plum and berry, and most heavily of cherry. It’s taste was dry and astringent, woody, of bell peppers, Eucalyptus, and having a slightly bitter aftertaste of black olive.

The term crianza refers to Riojas made primarily with the Tempranillo grape, at least three years old, and aged at least one year in oak barrels.

Price: 145 DH ($18.50)

Verdict: 8 (out of 10), Very Good

Food: Our first two wines were served with Italian Cerrano ham slices, Chorizo sausage chunks served in cut sections of white French baguette , and Spanish tortilla (pictured below), which is a kind of potato cake, held together with beaten eggs, and fried in a pan, then cut into squares on a plate. We had two types of today, one plain, and the other made with both red and green peppers, and onion.

Marqués de Caceres 2004 Rioja (13.5%), was more full-bodied, with a very long length, but a stronger taste of alcohol. The 2004 is a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha (Grenache) from Rioja Alta. The color was a deep transparent magenta. It smells of berry, grapefruit, and orange. The taste was nutty, with plum, juicy and tart.
Price: 183 DH ($24.00)

Verdict: 7 (out of 10) Good

Campo Viejo Crianza 2004 (13%), was a smoother, less oak-driven wine. The color was a deep magenta, slightly less transparent than the Marqués de Caceres. It smelled mildly of fruit. It tasted slightly spicy, and lemony, with a hint of oaked vanilla.

Price: 127 DH ($16.74)

Verdict: 6 (out of 10), Fair

Food: We also had duck paté, goat cheese with fig jam, and sliced Camembert, all served on Moroccan whole wheat bread with our third and fourth wines. Our hostess explained that in Spain, goat cheese is served with quince jam; but as quince jam is not available here in Marrakesh–thus, the substitution of fig jam.

Dynasty Special Red Wine, Jinwangchao, China (12%), was the surprise wine thrown into this tasting. This Chinese wine is made of Cabernet, in a joint-venture with French partners. This wine had a dark garnet color. It didn’t seem to have much aroma. Comments were “light and watery,” and “muddy tasting.” Personally, I thought it was quite okay, although it seemed to be lacking in any special aromas or tastes. I did detect a bitter, black-olive aftertaste.

Price: 127 DH ($16.74)

Verdict: 4 (out of 10) Poor, although I personally thought it was quite drinkable.

Madame Monet

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Explore posts in the same categories: Activities with Friends, Africa, Blind Tastings, Cabernet, Cabernet Grape, Cabernet Sauvignon, Campo Viejo Crianza, China, Chinese Wine, Crianza, Duck Paté, Dynasty Special Red Wine, Fig Jam and Goat Cheese, Food, Friends, Fun, Garnacha (Grenache) Grapes, Gourmet Cooking, Gourmet Food, Grenache Grapes, Marqués de Caceres Rioja, Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco, Recipies, Rioja, Siglo Rioja Crianza, Spain, Spanish Tortilla, Spanish Wine, Starting a Feng Shui Club, Tapas, Tempranillo Grape, Wine, Wine Surprises, Wine Tastings

Tags: Barcelona, Bilbao, Camembert cheese, Cerrano ham, cherry aroma, Chorizo Sausage, Duck Paté, Eucalyptus taste, Fench Baguettes, fig jam, fresh figs, Jinwangchao, quince jam, Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja, Spanish Tortilla, whole wheat bread

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