I will be in Rioja country in late April, I have found Muga, CVNE, and Lan, I am looking for a small producer who makes 95 plus rated wine, Rioja’s answer to Napa’s Dakota Shy or Vineyard 7&8. Any suggestions?
Posted by
la rioja
590 posts
Hi John,
as is common on other threads, a few more details might help. When you say 95 plus, who's rating? This is an article in Spanish (sorry, but the ranking is easy to understand) Puntos Parker about the wines Parker gave a 93 or better in 2016. Of the wineries you mentioned I like LAN the best of the three. Of the wines with 95, Sierra Cantabria is good too.
Next, do you just want to taste/buy wines or are you interested in touring the wineries. You say late April, that might put you in Easter week. In San Vicente, where Sierra Cantabria is you might run into these guys Los Picaos. Laguardia is a good place to stay, or Haro.
A good place to find more info about the wineries in La Rioja is the DOC. They havea listing of all the wineries.
As they say here "Para gustos están los colores". On the Parker list, all the wines are Reservas or Grand Reservas, so I would expect them to score very high. If you are willing to drop down a bit to the Crianzas, there are many good wines. And by design, they are going to be "lesser" wines. Here is the DOC's guidelines for the types of wine.
Just to throw out a few odds and ends. Artadi, which has very well regarded wines, is pulling out of the DOC, and will not be a "Rioja DOC" anymore. The winery Ijalba makes some interesting wines. The Graciano is good, and is different from most Riojas, as Tempranillo is not used to make it.
A must visit is the Dinastia Vivanco Museum, and you should see Marques de Riscal, but visiting the winery is "un color."
Posted by
OP
San Diego
13 posts
Thanks for the help, Spanish wines are gaining in popularity in the US, and the price is right. I am hoping to get a better understanding on this trip. The primary purpose of the trip is to see Semana Santa In Seville we will avoid the other guys.