A week of looking forward to taking a handful of clients to the beautiful winery of Bodegas Lan in Rioja Alta culminated on Wednesday night with the realisation that a 7am flight from Stanstead somehow translated into a 3.45am alarm clock.
Undaunted I was in the taxi at 4am, there in body if not in mind. I had timed this to perfection, or that was until my taxi got pulled over by the police and then couldn’t find Liverpool Street station. Go back to cabbie school son. Needless to say I missed the intended train but managed to board the plane by the skin of my teeth, red in the face and very out of breath. The epitome of cool professionalism. Luckily the majority of the group were already snoozing in their seats.
We flew to Bilbao and, with the winery visit not scheduled until the next morning; we had ample time to take in the wonders of the Guggenheim. The controversial art made for ample ice breaking conversation as the wine began to flow at the lunch table in the quirky tapas restaurant in Bilbao’s back streets, definitely the haunt of the locals not the tourists.
Santiago Ruiz Albariño 2010 quenched parched throats, and, as plates heaving with Iberico Ham, fish and to my delight a large very rare cow, the Bodegas Lan Reserva 2005 began to flow. The wonderfully elegant, dark and complex depths of the wine were a perfect foil for the rich juicy meats in front of us and happiness was evident on all the faces at the table.
A boisterous coach ride took us to the beautiful town of Logroño, nestled among the famous vineyards of Rioja. Here the party mood continued as we met Trinidad, the export manager from Bodegas Lan who took us on a tapas crawl through Logroño. It was a feast for the senses as we skipped from bar to bar pairing the new vintage of the Bodegas Lan Crianza 2007 with such local treats as garlic mushrooms and shrimp with pineapple. It was a night of vinous camaraderie that extended into the early hours.
Unfazed by the nights’ antics, the whole team was aboard the bus by 9.30 the following morning and on our way to the spectacular Lanciano vineyard. It is a 74ha vineyard tucked into the elbow of the Ebro River and provides the grapes for the premium single vineyard wines of the Lan portfolio. It is highly unusual to have such a large single vineyard in a region dominated by small growers, but under bright blue skies we strolled, examining soil types and vine ages and relishing the beauty and history of the vineyard.
Our final stop was the winery for a tour of the ultra modern facilities culminating in the breathtaking barrel cellar. You would be forgiven for thinking Madonna was hidden among the barrels; the cameras were going at such a rate.
After such extensive exertion we were ready to taste through the range of wines. We started with the Santiago Ruiz Albariño 2010 from their Rías Baixas winery in trendy Galicia. It is a wonderfully fresh example with zesty lemon, floral notes and enticing dried herbs backed up with a steely spine of minerality. A dash of local varieties Treixadura and Loureiro are added for complexity and depth.
Next came a flight of the core range, the Crianza 2006, Reserva 2005 and Gran Reserva 2003. The first thing that strikes me about these wines is the perfect balance between ripe fruit and subtle oak, which lends them both an Audrey Hepburn style grace and wonderful length. As you step up through the categories you reach new levels of rich complexity and persistence of flavour but the wines always have that signature harmony among their component parts. A sneak preview of the new vintage Gran Reserva 2004 had us all chomping at the bait for its release to the UK market. It was an absolute beauty; power, balance and muscle coated in silk. New to their range is the D12 2007, an ultra modern Reserva level wine from a single tank. This wine is all gleaming flanks and flashing eyes; exciting, enervating and powerful with brooding depths of plum, pomegranate and toasty oak.
The final flight comprised the 3 single vineyard wines, Viña Lanciano Reserva 2004, Edición Limitada 2006 and the Culmen 2005, the culmination of what the vineyard is capable of producing. The Lanciano is elegant and feminine, it has ripe red fruits, herbal complexity with hints of spice and chocolate lingering in the subtle smoky depths. The Edición Limitada is far more masculine, dark polished depths, velvety rich spicy fruit and enviable poise despite his power. And then the Culmen. Boom! This wine has a massive concentration of balsamic strawberries, supple tannins and notes of game, leather, and red fruit. It has phenomenal length and restraint; this is definitely the matriarch of the group.
It was a whirlwind trip, but a great adventure. It was wonderful to see how individual wines can be so different despite all coming from one area and made by the same person. Exploring the affects that subtle differences that blending, soil type and winemaking can have on the personality of the finished wine was an experience not to be missed.
By Alex Harper
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