This has been a rather interesting story since the onset. When we first ran into the label years ago, it was one of the more impressive newcomers we had seen. Yes it was Rioja within the definition of the appellation, but somehow there was a deeper color, plumper mouth feel, and bluer fruit than we had generally experienced in our extensive ‘research’ with a variety of labels in the region. We took this fresher fruit style to be a more modern but very successful take on the genre and we were big fans in those early years.
Some time later, new offerings from Roda seemed to miss the mark, and what had been an exciting new source for us previously was eclipsed by a number of things we found as we continued our research into the region. We weren’t as enthusiastic in seeking out the newest releases and, for a time, we didn’t see the wine at all. A couple of years ago the Roda label reappeared with a new distributer and clearly had rediscovered their mojo. This 2019, essentially their second tier bottling, is the best Roda we have tasted in that series.
Roda’s history isn’t as lengthy as some of the bodegas in the region. Their explanation is “in the late 80’s, a new generation renews the vine and wine sector. Carmen Daurella and Mario Rotllant arrived in La Rioja with the firm intention of creating a project able to provide the world of winemaking with something new. This is where a fascinating, ambitious, exigent and unprecedented adventure began: Bodegas Roda.” We aren’t sure what that means but they seem to be doing everything right.
Their fruit comes only from their estate vineyards and certain parcels are selected for each expression (there are five) of Roda’s wines. In their words, “In RODA we look for the parcels that that year have ripened in a red fruit profile, with the expression of the aromas present in the edge of the glass, ready to be felt immediately; with sweet spice notes and a kind freshness. In the mouth the red fruit carries the importance, with a fresh, long, silky, voluptuous and continuous mouth pass.” The vineyards are sustainable, and no chemicals are used.
The vines for the Roda Rioja Reserva 2019 bottling are over 30 years old and bush vines, harvested by hand into small crates. The grapes are sorted on a conveyor belt then fermented in upright French, temperature-controlled oak vats. Malolactic occurs in 225L barriques. The wine then spends 14 months in French oak, 40% new, and then 22 months in bottle until release. The blend for this vintage is 91% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano and 4% Garnacha. The wine has gotten some nice press already.
Luis Gutierrez from Wine Advocate wrote, “The wines are quite transparent of the vintage conditions, with the 2019 Roda being round, lush and velvety, with polished and sleek tannins and more volume and concentration, reflecting a low-yielding, warm and dry year. This is a cuvée with more red than black fruit produced with 91% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano and 4% Garnacha from 30-year-old vines fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in French barriques, 50% of them new, the other 50% second-use for 14 months. It’s a red with 14.5% alcohol, ripe fruit, measured oak and integrated acidity…92 points.”
And from James Suckling, “Fruity and primary with rich black cherries, red plums and damsons, adorned by some coffee, black pepper and chocolate. A pretty, modern, juicy expression of Rioja with a medium to full body, rounded by assertive and fine-grained tannins. Long, with some dark chocolate in the finish. Drink from 2023… 93 points.”
That said, we’ll politely disagree a little. We’ll give the scribes the benefit of the doubt since both notes are nearly a year old. Presumably this wine has developed further in the bottle because what we tasted was pretty sensational. It hits all of the notes that the best Roda efforts have. The fruit is bright, tender and complex, with the dark red fruits they claim they are looking for in full bloom and even leaning a little blue. Black cherry, ripe plum, and even impressions of blackberry, spice notes, vanilla, dark chocolate, it is succinctly balanced and both modern and engaging. This is an expressive, hedonistic, beautiful, refined bottle of Rioja that really rang our proverbial bell from the first whiff.