2011 Roda Cirsion Rioja

2011 was a hotter vintage than 2010 in Rioja and it shows in the fruit flavours here, which are a little figgier than on the 2010. Dense and smooth, with firmish tannins, plenty of extract and enough acidity to keep the wine fresh on the finish.

This Rioja shows a beautiful and elegant nose of ripe strawberries, black cherries and plums. Cloves, too. Great purity of fruit. Full-bodied and structured with polished, concentrated tannins that caress your palate. Long and spicy. Beautiful to taste now but better in 2019.

The 2011 Cirsion is unashamedly modern and ripe, with a very exuberant nose where the oak is perfectly integrated with notes of blackberries, plums, dark cherries and damp earth, peat and a core of violets and blueberries. This is a wine from selected bunches with a special ripeness that they consider produces a wine that needs shorter time in barrel (some eight months) and is accessible and released earlier. Exceptionally in 2012, this wine has 5% of Graciano; until now it's been a pure Tempranillo. There will be no Cirsion in 2013 and they have serious doubts about 2014. Next year we will taste that 2012, a special wine they produced to celebrate their 25th anniversary. It will be released in June 2015. It actually feels like the wine closes down in the glass. I believe this wine will benefit from a couple of years in bottle and wouldn't touch it until 2017. This 2011 is a limited cuvée of 6,114 bottles.

Dark purple. Powerful, deeply pitched black and blue fruit, licorice, pipe tobacco and violet scents are sharpened by mineral and peppery spice elements. Broad, sweet and seamless on the palate, offering concentrated cassis and cherry compote flavors accented by exotic allspice and black cardamom nuances. Shows unlikely vivacity for its brawn and finishes with superb energy and thrust, with supple tannins quickly absorbed by the wine's plush fruit. Distinctly modern but in no way unwieldy or gaudy in character, this sexy Rioja has a fine track record for aging.