1998 Bodegas Riojanas Vina Albina Gran Reserva

Country: Spain
Region: Rioja
Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: around €20,o0
Closure: Cork

This wine is produced by Bodegas Riojanas, a bodega with over 100 years of history in the Rioja region. The Rioja region is divided into three main regions one of which one is the Rioja Alta where Riojanas is based (the others being Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja). The Rioja Alta region has higher elevations than the other regions is famous for its concentrated, fruity, smooth textured wines.

Bodegas Riojanas currently has more than 300 hectares of vine under direct control of which the majority is Tempranillo. Interestingly enough, however, is that the bodega also has one of the largest vineyard expanses dedicated to both Graciano and Mazueo in the Rioja region. From this they produce a number of wine ranges with the most serious being the Gran Albina, the Monte Real and the Vina Albina ranges. Most of the ranges include a crianza, reserva and gran reserva depending on the vintage and fruit quality.

In Rioja wines are categorized as either joven, crianza, reserva, and gran reserva. This system has everything to do with ranking according to the aging of the wine; in the last three the length of time the wine was aged in oak. This wine is the gran reserva which means that it must, at a minimum, have aged for two years in oak and at least three years in the bottle. Currently Riojanas has 25,000 barrels plus a stock of 4,500,000 bottles stored in a purpose-built installation of more than 35,000 square meters in size.

As you would expect from a Rioja, the majority of the wine is made up of the Tempranillo variety (80%) blended with Mazuelo (15%) and Graciano (5%). Here's what I thought of it:

Cherry to brick red, browning towards the edges of the glass. Really nice soft, fruity nose with some funky, earthy aromas. An attractive, almost velvet, palate with stewed ripe, red cherry fruit and tones of American oak. Also some interesting savoury characters in there. Grippy tannins are still evident but well integrated and not too obtrusive. A classy, mature wine that, though definitely in the later half of its life, is still really good drinking now and probably will be for a couple of years yet.

2001 Chateau Villars

Country: France
Region: Fronsac
Alcohol: 13%
Price: €13,95
Closure: Cork

Fronsac is a hilly, picturesque region located along the Dordogne and L'Isle rivers to the west of the much more famous Pomerol region. A part of what is known as the Libourne satellite appellations - appellations that surround more famous wine regions - it's wines are recognized as some of the best value in Bordeaux. The soil on the right bank of the Dordogne contains a high percentage of clay which is a marriage made in heaven for the Merlot variety.

It is in this region that Chateau Villars has a history spanning more than two centuries and has shown itself to be one of the better performing chateaus in the Fronsac. Le Guide Hachette des vins has long rated this chateau as one the gems of its appellation which gives you an idea of the wine quality produced here. Had this chateau been located a little further east it would have a much bigger reputation.

The Gaudrie family has run chateau since the beginning of the 19th century with Jean-Claude and his family currently in control of operations. Thierry Gaudrie has managed to successfully combine the ancestral traditions of his forefathers with today’s modern methods. This wine (the Chateau Villars) is the flagship wine, a blend of predominantly merlot (75%) along with some cabernet franc (15%) and cabernet sauvignon (10%). Here is what I thought of it:

Despite being seven years old, this wine is still a very youthful, deep purple in colour. Nice mature nose with red strawberry and cherry-like aromas. Some earthy, yeasty, bread-like characters in there as well. On the palate it's smooth and soft with earthy, red berry fruit and hints of cedar. The tannins are quite soft and well integrated. It is full bodied but well balanced and nicely structured. All-in-all an honest, nicely matured red that is very good value for money and shows what Fronsac is capable of.

Casa do Raposo Fine Ruby Port

Country: Portugal
Region: Douro
Alcohol: 20%
Price: €19,95
Closure: T-Cap

Casa do Raposo Fine Ruby Port is produced by Casal dos Jordoes, one of the first organic port producers. This producer is one of the smaller producers in the Douro producing around 140,000 litres of port, of which they bring 35,000 litres onto the market under their own labels, and 275,000 litre of table wine from their 50 hectares. Alongside this they also produce olives from 13 hectares of olive grove.

This ruby port is produced from a blend of the Touriga Franca (Francesca) (60%), Tinta Roriz (20%), Tinta Barroca (10%) and Touriga Nacional (10%) grapes.  These four varieties along with Tinta Cao and Tinta Amarela make up the most important grapes in port production (of the forty eight grapes types permitted).  Touriga Franca provides structure along with a mix of fruit and floral characters, Tinta Roriz (tempranillo) provides firm structure and flavors/aromas of dried cherries and spice, Tinta Barroca provides a high sugar content, floral aromatics, black cherries, plums and purple flowers, and finally the Touriga Nacional provides deep colour, structure and rich flavours of black fruit.

Ruby Port is the most basic of port styles and is generally made with a blend of red grape varieties and blends from several years. It is generally a drink now port, although there are examples of unfiltered Ruby ports that will allow some bottle aging.  This port is port is one of those unfiltered examples with the etiquette suggesting that decanting is required.  Not too sure how long it will age, but after more than a week in the bottle it was still going strong.

Anyway, what do I think of this Ruby Port:

As expected a really deep purple in colour. Plenty of fruit on the nose with spirit coming through as well. Smooth on the palate with plenty of good, juicy, concentrated, sweet fruit. Really quite sweet but the acid combined with the grape spirit gives the wine a good balance. Tannins are quite light on, as expected, which means a really easy drink exactly as a ruby port should be. I really enjoyed drinking this and in my opinion this is a lot better than your average ruby.