Top quality Rioja is as delicious, as complex, and as age-worthy as any of the world’s finest Reds. This week we have the pleasure of telling you about a brilliant Rioja from one of our favorite Spanish oenologists, Javier Rodriguez. Javier does what all great winemakers strive to do by creating clean, modern, stylish wines that deliver a sincere expression of the vineyard and vintage from which they came. Our 2015 Rioja Reserva delivers an intense, thought provoking style that was clearly built with hearty meals and long cellaring in mind. The nose begins with a touch of rosy potpourri before progressing into darker tones of anise, pipe tobacco, and warm mixed berry preserves. It is the kind of nose that lures you with an intoxicating perfume that immediately informs you that you are about to drink some pretty bad a$$ Red. The palate is firm and structured with sturdy tannin sitting just beneath all the bold blackberry, black currant, and raspberry preserves. As this Rioja moves onto the finish you’ll notice a touch of oak creeping lending the wine a creamy, modern edge and sleek hints of vanilla and spice. As the wood and tannin fade in between sips the sensation of old vine minerality begins to take hold. Drink this beauty now, after an hour in the decanter, with a hearty meal. Then set a half dozen bottles aside and drink one a year over the next six years. Betcha the last one will be significantly better than the first!