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Historical tasting at Marqués de Riscal (1862 - 2012) by Markus del Monego MW
"A travel through time" was the subtitle of this "once in a lifetime tasting" at the Marqués de Riscal winery, starting with 1862, the first vintage bottled in Rioja. A tasting with priceless wines and a very emotional approach. The wines from the 19th century showed very young and fresh, almost a hundred years younger than they showed on the labe. Alreaday the first 10 wines showed that evolution and progress were important to the first owner. With his bordelais cellearmaster M. Pineau, in charge from 1862 till his death in 1909, the winery made splendid wines .
The series showed wines with complexity and length, a persistant but also slightly lighter style, which changed in 1870 with toward a more opulent approach on the palate, especially in 1870, 1871 and 1872. The series of 1873 till the mid eighthies of the 19th century showed a very homogeneous character with high quality and distinct vintage's character. The series starting with 1884 shows the similar homogenous character but on an even higher quality level. It seems, that 30 years of experience have started bearing fruit resulting in more concentrated, elegant and persistant wines. It seems as if nature knew the approach of the phylloxera crisis and showed in a last uprush the potential of this region at the last decade of the nineteenth century. 1900 proves to be a great wine, the last non phylloxera affected vintage.
This makes it even harder for the vintages 1903 to 1905 which have suffered partial phylloxera influence. 1907 is the first vintage where craftes wines were used and marks a different stylistic expression. The second decade of the 20th century shows the struggle after the phylloxera crisis but proves, that the quality started to recover soon. The twenties are gorgeous coming back to former glory in a crescendo with an exceptional 1924, 1928 and 1929. Aromatically we find more parallels to the 1870s and 1880s than to the first two decades of the tenwtieth century. The change in quality might also have been influenced by the new cellarmatser M. Dubos who started his work at the beginnung in the twenties following M. Richard who was in charges since M. Pineaus death.
Where the twenties are generally more elgant and lacy, the thirties offer a more compact and concentrated character with some tremendously good wines such as 1936 and 1938. The fourties were a splendid finish with a stunning series from 1945 till the early 1950's on a very homoegenous and high level. The series of Barón de Chirel from the first vintage in 1986 till 2012 was another wonderful experience. These wines will have a remarcable potential for further ageing too and prove that the tradition of mature wines at Marqués de Riscal will continue.
Wine Description
The Story
Marqués de Riscal Reserva wines are basically made from grapes from tempranillo vines planted before de 70’s, grown in the best clay-limestone soils of the Rioja Alavesa. This variety withstands oak- and bottle ageing well thanks to its good balance of acidity and fine tannin. The Graciano and Mazuelo varieties, whose presence in the blend does not exceed 10%, provide crispness and a lively colour. Fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature of 26ºC and the maceration time is never more than 12 days.
Riscal reservas spend around two years in American Oak barrels, producing a wine which corresponds to the classic Rioja style: fresh, fine, elegant and very suitable for laying down for many years. Before release for sale it spends a minimum of one year rounding off in the bottle; time enough to show how much complexity tempranillo is able to achieve.
Wine Information
Vegetative cycle of 205 days. Summer with slight rainfall distributed over the June-September period. Cool July and August. Reduced quantity of grapes.
Lovely colour.Predominant animal bouquet. Wine of consistency with very pleasant tannin. It still has aging capacity. Surprising for a wine 130 years old.
The comments about the quality of the vintages and the meteorological details correspond generically to the Denomination of Origin Rioja and not exclusively to the wines of “Vinos de los Herederos del MarquОs de Riscal, S.A.”, the analysis and description of which are detailed below each vintage.