Price:	QTY:
RODA Reserva Tempranillo Garnacha 2003 375ml The wines of Roda should need no introduction to wine geeks, they have been one of the leaders of top Rioja in Australia for a couple of years now. This year Roda Reserva is available in just about every bottle size known to man, from 375ml to 6L. Excellent. The 03 reminds me of the 2000 in style, great red fruit with concentration and depth. I think the oak treatment is spot on, the best I have seen on a young Roda so far. As usual with young wines, a serious decant is required if you want to have a look at one of these now. A quick run down on the wine: 85% Tempranillo, 11% Graciano and 4% Garnarcha aged in 50% new french oak for 16 months. The percentage of Graciano is quite high for this vintage, in theory this should give the wine a bigger acid kick and increased aging capabilities. There has always been a wiff of burgundy in a bottle of Roda, this year it's more pronounced. Not sure if this is the Graciano or not. The nose opens up with coffee, earth, strawberries and red cherries and old cut flowers. A spicy aspect builds as the wine fills out with more air, cinnamon, clove and pepper. The balance and structure are up to Roda's usual high standards, luxury tannins provide a velvet like texture . Oak has been a criticism of Roda in the past, they must be listening. The oak is just perfect, a supporting influence that doesn't distract from the gorgeous fruit. Mainly cherry, but a bit of mulberry, anise, pepper and spice with minerals on the persistent finish. This is Roda in full swing. Keep you hands off for until 2010 and drink for 10 years. 93 Pts. Dave Worthington, Tinto y Blanco These guys are not merely dedicated, they are detail-obsessed. Perhaps the most impressive (mahogany-scented) winery I’ve set foot in (see photo below). Everything is about the production and retention of grape quality – the modern approach to wine through viticulture is nowhere given more commitment. All fruit off vineyards in excess of 30 years (some up to 80 years old), from a mixture of sandstone and clay/limestone soils, grown biodynamically. Fermentation in Seguin Moreau foudre, and aged in French barrels, with a minimum of oxidative handling, and neither filtered nor fined. Their concern is to make plush, violet-velvet wines with rich fruit and full, soft tannins pushing to the margins of the fruit, but always contained within. The winery is built into a mountain, and is a gravity-fed free run operation (you take a freight elevator to travel down the hill from one stage of making to another). Significantly, each vintage is made "on its merits" - work levels, style, etc are responses to vintage realities - not applications of a recipe. Scott Wasely