1995 Monte Real Reserva

Riojanas is yet another large old bodega with plans for substantial expansion over the coming years. The firm is in the process of building a new winemaking facility in San Vicente and will turn its original site (along with the attached castle) into a wine museum. Riojanas has a new system for racking by machine (the system also cleans out the emptied barrels). While some other producers continue to promote the advantages of racking by hand, and using gravity, technical director Felipe Nalda notes that it easier to control this process through his new device and, in any event, hand racking is too dependent on the skill of the worker. Riojanas will also add a conveyor belt to facilitate the elimination of less-than-perfect grapes. About one-quarter of Riojanas's output comes from its own fruit; another 60% or so is purchased via contracts or handshake agreements, with the rest bought in wine from co-ops. The producer's most satisfying bottling is its Monte Real reserva and gran reserva typically 13% alcohol and possessing plenty of color, body and structure. In the past I've described this wine as Burgundian in style. The producer's Vina Albina is a leaner, finer style of Rioja, and generally a half-degree lower in alcohol. These two lines represent about 25% of the bodega's current annual production of four million bottles (projected to grow to six million). I must admit to being a bit less impressed with the wines of the '90s than I was on my previous visit five years ago with the bodega's reserva bottlings from the late '80s. The best Riojanas wines offer terrific depth of fruit, but their aromas of roasted fruits, leather and earth can be rather warm and rustic.