Thursday Night Wine Blogging

Back, after a week's hiatus for a dinner last week, I'm wine blogging once again. Oooooh, and tonight we have a most curious entry in the wine blogging series.

A little Rioja!

Yup, but the curious thing is the history of this particular wine. I first purchased a bottle of this wine sometime around 2000. Upon opening, it was a tannic monster, good but a bit harsh. So I decided to lay the remaining bottle down and see how it aged.

Well, tonight's the night.

First the details. The wine is Marques de Arienzo Rioja Gran Reserva, 1991. Shall we pop the cork?

Ok, a little trouble getting the cork out, it broke in half and inspection reveals that it was nearing the end of it's useful life. Are we about to have a second week of disappointment?

Well, I can tell from the nose that the tannins have relaxed substantially. Happily, there are no off putting scents, a concern that I had seeing the cork. Lets have a sip.

A bit non descript. Fruit predominates, but it disapates somewhat quickly with only a little mouth. As usual, I'm going to let it breathe a bit.

Ok, its been about 20 minutes, a second try reveals that our little Rioja has opened up a bit. The nose is still fruity, some pepper and a little cedar, perhaps a small hint of port, which is not good, I think maybe the wine has passed its prime. The taste is fruit, without much else. Five years has mellowed this wine, mellowed it too much.

Still, the wine is enjoyable, I'd give it a "good" rating. Drinkable, but nothing special, definately should have cracked it a year or two ago.

Well, thats it for tonight. Next Thursday finds me in Boston so look forward to the next wine blog in two weeks.