Marques Murrieta, Rioja Dalmau Reserve

Marques Murrieta, Rioja Dalmau Reserve(this wine was reviewed in July 2008 and is a library release, with a price to match) Deep ruby. Potent cassis and blueberry aromas show excellent clarity and lift, and cigar box, licorice and vanilla notes add complexity. Supple, broad and appealingly sweet, offering concentrated dark berry, cola, vanilla and peppery spice flavors and a smoky quality that emerges on the back half. Finishes long and smooth, featuring slow building tannins and

Plus this wine always ages well and the 2019 version should be no exception

There is a superb sense of underlying tension to the much more mineral-driven flavors that are also stunningly dense and powerful yet the bone dry and hugely long finish is an exercise in grace and harmony

A mildly fruity nose is cut with plenty of freshly turned earth and more discreet floral wisps

It has good grip

(91-94)/2030+

While the Reserve gets most of the attention

Granny Smith apples and plenty of citrus zest

La Vigneux

This is the biggest wine in the range yet impeccably wellbalanced and if not exactly refined

Tasted just after bottling and a final blend of 58% Mourvedre and 42% Grenache

and many old-school Australian producers have proven that the low-alcohol red wines age with grace and ease

A faintly sweaty tang and subtle suffusion of chalk add interest—and slight grain of tannin invigoration—to a lusciously refreshing but still very much fruit-dominated finish