Klein Constantia: stellar whites, sweet and dry 
Marqués de Riscal: Gehry hotel outshining solid Rioja and Rueda 
La Rioja Alta: benchmark classical Riojas especially top flight Gran Reservas 
Marqués de Murrieta: Rioja aristocracy built around Castillo Ygay 
CVNE: Combining volume and classical quality 
Contino: Château-style Rioja and Graciano pioneers 
30-40 FRF; 12%
A surprise. Bought in Le Puy en Velay in 1996 to provide the right wine to do an Auvergne recipe for Coq au Vin. But I didn’t get around to cooking it until 2004. So this much travelled Gamay / Pinot Noir blend should have been awful by this stage. However, I had a half-glass before cooking, because it was surprisingly well-aged. Brick, pale core with wide brown rim. Quite pronounced bouquet of truffles and compost, but still with some degree of fruit (perhaps dried) – red cherries maybe. Acidity a little overt, but some redcurrant fruit remaining alongside more gamey flavours. Overall quite good length too.
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