Time to Taste some Killer Good Rioja
[Music] hi there my name is dave and today we’re going to try yet another rioja this time a 2017 baronia rioja reserva which is on sale right now for just 23. at bc liquor store so i covered a lot about rioja and spain and the different grapes last time so today i’m just going to focus on the actual winery and how they made the wine so this was made at bodegas boronia and this winery was started in 1973 and they have two wineries their flagship winery is in rioja and the other one makes verdejo in rueda which is another region of spain the winery promotes sustainable agriculture and the name comes from the ancient celts of that area who were called baroness in the rioja there are three regions there’s rioja alta rioja baja or now it’s been called rioja oriental and rioja alavesa and this winery as you can see on the map firmly esconced in the rioja alta and the rioja alta is known for old world styles of wine because it is higher elevation shorter growing season and brighter fruit flavors and lighter wine so that’s what the alta rioja alta region is known for this particular wine the vineyard has atlantic influences cold winters mild summers and moderate rainfall so it’s not super hot and super dry it’s more moderate temperatures the soils are clay mixed with some iron or lime and alluvial the vineyard is quite large it’s 900 hectares and is at around 700 meters elevation and the vines are between 20 and 100 years old they grow tempranillo graciano mesuelo also known as kergnan garnacha also known as grenache and viera which is a white wine grape the winery as you can see from this photo has a grass roof so it’s all fitting in with that environmental sustainable type idea the winery in fact has a sustainable design to it using geothermal energy it uses water less energy consumption and minimal impact on the environment in fact it is a leed led certified winery and i know that leed is a very important environmental certification the building i live in in kelowna is a leed certified building which has geothermal energy actually this wine is part of their classic line and they also have an exclusive line and a rare line but i have never seen those around here the grapes for this wine were grown from vines that are more than 40 years old the weather during 2017 because this is a 2017 vintage had a bit of a rocky start to it but turned out well in fact turned out to have excellent wine with low yields this boronia has 95 percent tempranillo four percent grasiano and just one percent venezuela or caravan pairing according to the website is roast meat charcuterie meat like iberico ham and ripe cheese so i’ve got some nice ripe cheese and crackers to go with my tasting today it was aged 18 months in french and american oak and 18 months in the bottle so it was released in 2020 and that’s why it has the reserva designation because of the time in the bottle and the total time was three years it as i said it’s 23 at the bcl there’s also a grand reserva that is available in bc at everything wine now grand reserva has longer time in oak and longer time in the bottle a total of five years i believe and it’s 42 dollars at everything wine and there’s also a tempranillo single varietal at everything wine for 23. both made by beronia this is the only one that you can get at the bc liquor store so let’s try this one after last week’s roja which was okay it was a good wine i’m have high hopes for this beronia rioa reserva so let’s try it out oh nice smell compared to last week it’s it’s a dif i mean it’s the same same grapes same area but definitely different sort of smell um anyways i said appearance i said clear deep ruby i agreed with you i couldn’t find i couldn’t see the stem looking through the wine nose i said clean medium plus intensity a little bit of red fruit like raspberry and cherry but a lot of blue dark fruit like black black currant and blackberry a little bit of green pepper i didn’t detect any cinnamon but i did detect chocolate vanilla maybe some cloves i got some smoke some sort of smoked um smell to it not super strong like tobacco or cedar but sort of a smoked toasty smell some generally general cooked black fruit um maybe a little bit of leather and a little earthiness there but but not a lot of really aging stuff dying to try this to see how it measures up it doesn’t disappoint oh it’s got something in it yeah i said uh dry medium or medium plus acidity medium tannins uh high alcohol so 14 so it is high um i said medium body medium plus intensity flavor like i thought the flavor is great and a medium plus finish a nice long finish blackberry black fruits blackberry blackcurrant black cherry a little bit of black pepper before i said uh you know i can taste any cedar or cedar tobacco i tasted both cedar and tobacco like they weren’t on the nose but they’re on the palate for me um some smoke uh that mushroom was there again and some cooked fruits i thought it was a very food friendly wine that’s ready to drink now i wouldn’t bother aging anymore i think it’s ready to go i thought it was balanced i thought it had a really good length i really like the intensity of flavor and i think it’s complex too i think there’s lots still going on in this wine i rated it between very good and outstanding if you are looking into booking a wine tour of the okanagan next year and you are interested in a customizable flexible and completely private wine tour in the comfort of your own vehicle please check out the link below in the comments [Music]
This 2017 Beronia Reserva Rioja has wonderful aromas and a smooth, flavourful palate. After checking out this video, why not search out the Okanagan for some Tempranillo or other Spanish type wines by booking a tour at this link! https://www.wineandthensommwinetours.com/contact-us