• 2001 Finca Allende Rioja - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja (2/11/2006)
  Hard to describe this wine. dark red in colour. decanted 1 hour as nose and palate closed up once opened. Nose of dark cherries, plums, and leather and spices but subtle. Palate was filled with cherries and plums, chocolate and more oak but a lot of acidity that stayed with the wine until the end. Quite tannic. Long finish. It will probably merit a higher score in time but the acidity turned me off. Then again, I might be too used to Aussie wine for my own good. (89 pts.)

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mimik,

Nice to see someone here who thinks the way I do, when it comes to Spanish and Aussie wines, at least. My TNs match yours almost exactly, though I didn't find the finish particularly long.

This was certainly not a bad wine, far from it, but I was led to believe by someone who knows my tastes well that the style would be more to my liking than it was. No doubt lovers of Riojas will love this too, but I cannot justify paying CAD$30 for this wine, for my taste at least. Like you said mimik, it's probably the amount of New World wine, Aussie in particular, coursing through my liver than makes me appreciate this wine less than I should. Not fair to score it so I won't.

Great, bman. I look forwards to discussing immigration and Aussie wine issues at the ottawa offline. I am the Aussie wine representative in the MWP

You must be very lonely....

And anglophone

quote:

Originally posted by bman:
You must be very lonely....

And anglophone

I think you meant to say "allophone"?

I bought two bottles of that after seeing some review or article, and I really didn't like the first one I tried. Sour cherry and cough medicine flavors, tart finish, I'd probably give it an 82 score.

To make matters worse, it started out below average and got worse over the hour or two in the decanter before I threw it out (something I rarely ever do with a wine that isn't corked or doesn't have some other major problem), so I don't hold out much hope that age will cure its shortcomings. Fortunately, I only paid $18, but I wouldn't buy it at any price now.

It will, however, make a lovely housewarming gift to some friend of my wife who I don't like at some point.

mimik - I didn't want to be more presumptuous than I was already being.....

I remember as recently as a year or two ago, in the big SAQ here across the street from the casino, when I asked about Aussie wines I was directed towards the section called "divers pays", though there is now a small section of Aussie wines in the same store.

Not much has changed. The SAQ is still predominantly Italy and France. Decent selection of South American wines. Hey, aren't all those countries predominantly Catholic??

I buy all my Aussie wine from your LCBO. That's why you Ontarian's occasionally get shut out of some hard to find wines at the LCBO or Classics catalogue.

A recent example comes to mind: re: 2004 gnarly dudes

"Dammit, I was hoping that this wouldn't be so good, since I didn't get any"

Nice notes, I actually had a similar experience a couple days ago with the Celeste.
It was all closed up, with faint aromas of cherries, chocolate and graphite. Tannic.

Thanks Luc. My only consolation is that these Riojas need to be drunk 5-10 years down the road, according to an SAQ store consultant. She mentioned this is typical with Riojas. I hope she is right.

quote:

Sour cherry and cough medicine flavors, tart finish, I'd probably give it an 82 score.
To make matters worse, it started out below average and got worse over the hour or two in the decanter before I threw it out

Monty, that sounds like a damaged wine, not like a decent Rioja. The worsening with oxygen could point towards cork fault. Cork fault comes in several guises, not only the mouldy one, and certainly at different intensities.

I've had this one, and while it didn't knock my socks off I thought it was a quality wine. My complaint with it was that it wasn't typical Rioja- a little too obviously oaked for my tastes, whereas I like them a little more subtle. Sour cherry and cough medicine aren't characteristic, and certainly that sounds like an off bottle.

mimik - now I know why I couldn't find any Gnarly Dudes near me the next day!

Had this tonight and as predicted, it is showing much better than 10 months ago. More cassis and fruit on the nose with some spiceness. Acidity is present but more in check than last time. I will let my last 3 bottles lie for another 3-5 years.

91+ points

• 2001 Finca Allende Rioja Allende - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja (5/19/2008)
  This tasted so fresh without any inkling of age. Lots of fresh fruit notes of figs, mocha/chocolate, morello cherries, walnuts, and hints of oak and vanilla in the background. The palate is really supple, rather compact and a little tight but silky nonetheless with more cherry and chocolate with hints of vanilla on a fruit driven slightly grainy tannic finish. Long and tasty. The acidity has subsided and has better integrated than what I experienced over 2 years ago when I first tried this wine. Too bad this was my last bottle as another 3-4 years would put this wine in its prime drinking window. (92 pts.)

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