Bodegas Roda, Roda Reserva 2002, D.O.Ca . Rioja.

Color: very intense, dark red, with a touch of brown.
Nose: initially a bit restrained but after a while richer with lots of spices, balsamic nuances (incense, cedar, sandalwood), lots of wood (vanilla, smoke), moss, some sweetness, a touch of raisins, a bit sombre but quite complex and deep.
Taste: intense, a bit austere, powerful, lots of wood, with smoke, spices, sigarbox nuances, balsamic nuances (cedar, sandalwood), earthy with firm tannins, some hidden fruit, good elegant freshness, sombre style, but again deep and quite complex.
Finish: powerful, medium long, with a lot of wood, smoke, spices, tobacco, balsamic nuances, firm, but ripe tannins. 

* A strong and powerful, luxurious red Rioja with lots of wood (vanilla, smoke) and balsamic nuances (cedar, incense, sandalwood), serious style with firm tannins, depth and complexity.


- Drink this wine from now on, it may become a little bit smoother and even more complex, but I doubt there is enough mid-palate to keep it going for another decade. I fear there is a risk for drying-out if kept too long. Drink before 2011.

- Decades ago Rioja was famous for its soft and elegant reserva's, both red and white. With the trend towards more power and extraction a new style (red Rioja) appeared: impressive wines with less elegance and greater intensity. The use of new (French!) wood also added a different type of tannins and aroma's to the wines. Much too often these prestige reds are over powered by the wood and extract and only show a faint regional character in  a all too strong "brew" made to gain high marks, points and stars in blind professional tastings. Roda still has that characteristic luxurious red Rioja balsamic character, but will impress during blind tastings as well because of its power, intensity and upbringing in new French barriques. I prefer a more clear expression of its terroir, but this wine might trigger curiousness and interest in the regional character at the tasters. A very well made wine. A cross between the classic and original style with a "modern" and fashionable prestige style.

- lotnr.: L 00006 / bottle nr.: 025962

- tasted: 12-02-’07

- estimated retail price ca. 25  euro

- production: 125.000 bottles

- Bodegas Roda, Mrs. S. Fernandez Bengoa, Avda. Viscaya, 5 Barrio de La Estacion,  26200 Haro (La Rioja) Spain.  tel.:  + 34-941 30 30 01 ; fax.: + 34-941 31 27 03 ; e-mail: sfernandez@roda.es ; web site: www.roda.es