Roda, 2005 Reserva.

Bodegas Roda was founded 1987 by Mario Rottlant and Carmen Daurella, a Catalán couple who met through their business affiliations in gourmet products and wine. Their objective was to create high expression wines in a modern style reflective of the Rioja region’s microclimatic spectrum of soil, orientation, elevation, climate, vintage year and traditional indigenous varietals. They set Bordeaux as their benchmark of technique and quality, and to evoke the fullest reflection of place in the wines, focused their efforts on old vine vineyards capable of best expressing the terroir of Rioja.

With Managing Director Agustin Santolaya, Rottlant developed a map identifying roughly 250 acres in Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja where specific soil conditions, altitude and orientation had the potential to produce highly expressive fruit. Eventually, Rottlant secured contractual agreements for control over seventeen different vineyards, collectively totalling 100 acres, with vines of 30 to 100 years of age, each a distinct microclimate. Fourteen of the vineyards are the Rioja Alta and are planted to Tempranillo and Graciano in chalky limestone and alluvial soils with iron outcroppings. Of the remaining three, one is located near Tudelilla in the Rioja Baja planted to Garnacha, and the others near Logroño planted to Tempranillo. All of the vines are bush trained and cultivated without chemicals, and yield less than two tons per acre, or about three pounds of fruit per vine.

The vines are hand harvested between mid September and late October and hand sorted at the winery. Fruit from each vineyard is maintained separately throughout fermentation and aging. Fermentation takes place in French oak vats of up to 20,000 litre capacity with temperature controlled by water-chilled stainless steel plates and automatic remontage systems. The secondary fermentation is carried out in French barriques, half of which are new and half of one year’s use, in a unique, light-flooded hall kept at a temperature of 20ºC (68ºF) by panels which radiantly heat the floor to induce malolactic fermentation. Stabilization is accomplished by opening a large window in the hall’s north façade to reduce the temperature to 5ºC (41ºF) from December through February. The aging period is completed over twelve to sixteen months in a large bay excavated into one side of the hall. Following blending, the wine is egg-white fined and bottled without filtering and spends twenty months in bottle before release.

Roda Reserva is blended from at least 90 percent Tempranillo and the balance from Garnacha and Graciano grapes selected from vineyards producing grapes marked by supple, expressive fruit and elegant structure. Representing roughly fifty percent of production, Roda Reserva is blended in a style to appeal to the Burgundy drinker’s palate. Deep purple in colour, the wine shows subtle, sweetly ripe black raspberry and strawberry aromas with musky, woodsy notes. The ripe tannins are silky yet powerful, ending in a lengthy, elegant and balanced finish.