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RODA Cirsion 2004 Vibrant healthy crimson. Very exciting notes that are not just fruit - though for the moment ripe black cherries reign on the palate - but much more layered with some very fine, aromatics of dried herbs. Great texture and length. Even some delicacy - a difficult wine to describe this as it really is on the cusp of modern and traditional - and therefore pretty clever probably. 19 points Drink 2008-15 Jancis Robinson MW The 2004 Cirsion is a different kettle of fish, as it should be given the price. It is becoming clear that 2004 was a great vintage in Rioja and this wine is truly special. Dark ruby/purple in color, it exhibits a stunning nose of acacia flowers, black cherry, black currant, and spice box. This is followed by a rich, opulent, powerful wine which manages to retain a velvety palate-feel and superb elegance. There is a splendid integration of oak, tannin and acidity and the structure for 4-6 years of further development. Drink this terrific Rioja over the next 12-15 years. 93 points Jay Miller Wine Advocate # 169 Feb 2007 The top of the Roda range is the stunning ‘Cirsion’ – it’s an amazing project, and a unique wine. Vines over 50 years old in vineyards near Haro, La Rioja Alta are specifically chosen and 10 RODA pickers are trained and dedicated to picking their bunches for Cirsion. Agustín Santolaya and Carlos Díez regularly taste the grapes to determine the optimum ripeness levels and time for picking. Agustín’s theory is that a few old vines produce exceptional quality grapes with a "special stage of ripeness when the tannins had become more polymerized than usual within the grape bunch." This shortens the aging period to better preserve the properties of the wine. Vinification similar to RODA I and II, CIRSION is aged for only 8 months in 100% new French oak barrels and 4 months in bottle. Yearly production is determined by the vines creating these special grapes but is never more than 7000 bottles. Years ago, the specialists at Roda detected that some of the Tempranillo vines in the older vineyards went through a special ripening process that was different from the rest. According to Agustín Santolaya, "Each vine becomes a winery, allowing us to shorten the ageing period and thus prevent the wood from stealing sensations from the wine". The result is Cirsion, the name deriving from the Latin Cirsium and the Greek Kirsion, the thistle, the winery’s emblem. Cirsion is the finest of the Roda wines and also that with the shortest ageing period. It is made exclusively from Tempranillo and the winemaking process is a closely held secret. All of which leads to a magnificent wine, complete in all its aspects and concepts: fruits, minerals, balsamic, volume, strength, silkiness, persistence and freshness. CIRSION vintage years were 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Bodegas Roda Roda's vineyard project. Miniscule volumes and first produced in 97. 99, 00, 01 vintages have all won best wine of the year awards in the Spanish wine press. Cirsion (the name of the thistle which is Roda's logo) is a project which starts and finishes in the vineyard. It is based on a theory of tannin development in perfect old vine Tempranillo under exceptional conditions: Roda are able to identify very small parcels of fruit which naturally exhibit 'long-chain' (ie 'wine-like') tannins in berry, rather than the more usual model of softening short, brittle tannins with barrel and bottle maturation. This does not connote a soft-fruity-round wine, however. Cirsion is a very serious, concentrated, complex, powerful beast – but this power, extract and expression is amazingly harnessed by the full, unbelievably supple tannin structure. A 'grand cru' anywhere in the world. Scott Wasely The Spanish Acquisition imports the two wines which vie for supremacy as Spain's greatest tempranillos, and which are priced around the level of Bordeaux First Growths or top flight Grand Cru Burgundies. One is Pingus, from the Ribera del Douro region; the 2003 has a nominal retail of $1050, but is available in such limited quantities it is mainly hand-sold to its devotees (it is a cult wine). The other is Bodegas Roda Cirsion (a snap at around $390), with both the 2001 and 2003 vintages fleetingly available (the Australian allocation is around 10 cases of each). Cirsion is made from individually selected vines, each identified for the unique tannin structure of the berries, resulting in an ultra-soft, fleshy wine supported by satiny tannins. The whole focus is on the fruit, so the wine spends only 10 months in French oak. The '01 is only 14.5?, the same as Roda II, yet is even more massively rich, focussed and complex, with an almost Barossa-like sheen from a top vintage. James Halliday