The Caskaway

One of the first wines I can remember I really liked was Rioja. It was the family choice at festive occasions or birthday lunches usually accompanying one of my mother’s stupendous Sunday Lunches. I have a hankering it was probably Campo Viejo Rioja, modern, easy to drink, fruity, and smooth. Rioja is Spain’s most famous wine region and now produces a range of styles from ultra traditional to modern groundbreaking wines.

About Rioja Reserva

Rioja Reserva is made mainly from the Tempranillo grape and must be aged for a minimum of three years, one of which is in oak barrels. This aging helps smooth out tannins and add complexity. A Reserva wine has less of the fresh fruit flavours of Rioja Crianza but is balanced by spice and vanilla from the oak aging. Each Bodegas or winery can use a mix of American or French oak and the length of time the wine spends in the barrel is a big influence on the finished product. Producers may also use other traditional grapes such as Garnacha, which gives the wine added body and Carignan or Mazuelo which adds extra tannin and colour.

Bodegas Navajas Rioja Rerserva 2014

Bodegas Navajas Rioja Rerserva 2014 is dark cherry red in colour and is full of red fruits and spice on the nose. The medium-high alcohol is balanced by flavours of red fruit and oaky vanilla. This wine has a long, smooth finish and I think is excellent value for its quality. The wine is made in the heart of the Rioja D.O.C. in a one-hundred-year-old, family-owned winery. It is made from a blend of 95% Tempranillo and 5% Mazuelo grapes which are harvested by hand during the first weeks of October. It is then aged in a mix of French and American oak barrels for a minimum of twenty months which helps develop the flavours and complexity of the wine. The spicey, smoky flavours and high tannins are made for fatty, charred roast lamb, Iberian sausages, cheese, and game such as venison.

Grape variety                                 95% Tempranillo and 5% Mazuelo

Country of origin                           Spain

Region                                             Rioja

Vintage                                            2014

Alcohol                                            14%

Notes

Navajas is a small family-run bodega near the village of Navarrete, in the heart of Rioja, founded in 1918 and today run by Antonio Navajas and his wife.