Lucky Tuesday Tasting at Ametsa with Arzak Instruction & Bodegas Remirez de Ganuza

We were very fortunate to have Luis over from Bodegas Remirez de Ganuza, to talk us through all their wines, including a few bottles and magnums of older vintages sent from their cellar - hence the lucky epithet. Without talking about every wine we tasted, I would like to focus on the mini-vertical of their Reserva wine, which is the lynch-pin of their range. Their wines are aged for longer than the statutory period at each level, so their Reserva could be labelled as a Gran Reserva (one for the purists, out there!). 

We were comparing the 2004, 2005 & 2006 (current) vintages and they are all quite different in character, although having a family resemblance. 2004 is generally considered to be the best vintage of the three, with 2005 similarly rated as "Excellent", with 2006 rated as merely "Very Good". On a scale of dry, savoury and restrained, the 2004 heads the list, followed by the 2006. The 2005 has a considerably bigger & riper fruit profile, making it very appealing and enjoyable now. The 2004 will last well and continue to improve but will never have the same fruit as the '05, so will always be more elegant and svelte in style. 2006 falls between the two excellently rated wines and has the best of both worlds, also just starting to drink now but will go on for many, many years. 

Being fortunate enough to taste the Gran Reserva 1994 from magnum, that gave me a great chance to see how well these wines develop. With age, the wines become finer, a little lighter in body and generally more delicate - potentially reminiscent of old Bordeaux (to this taster) rather than the archetypal "oxidised old Rioja ". It has great colour stability and shows only a trace of a little orange on the rim of the wine - all three in the vertical were pretty much the same in terms of colour evolution, with the 2005 being the deepest, slightly. With great acidity a feature of good vintages in Rioja Alavesa, there is no chance that these very well made, hand crafted wines will not improve any cellar and be there to be enjoyed for many years to come. 

The only way the day could have been luckier would have been if I have been able to stay on for lunch, but alas meetings called.

Thanks to the excellent team at Ametsa and Luis for making the trip and providing the wines. 

By Rob Allen, London Trade Sales (@LuckyRob99)