To be honest, I could go on and on about all the over-oaked joven Rioja out there. It ruins the essence of how funky and unusual Tempranillo can be. Thankfully a slew of right-minded producers came along and started making elegant and unique UNoaked Tempranillo in Rioja. One of our favorites (all around) is Telmo Rodriguez. He comes from a long and impressive tradtion of Rioja, having been raised amid one of the great Rioja families - Remelluri.
With his Rioja, he makes several cuvees, and today we bring you the simplest and most easy drinking of them all. Rioja "LZ" is from bush vines that have been hand picked in the Rioja Alavesa. Made from a very traditional blend of Tempranillo, Graciano + Garnacha this Rioja is also fermented with wild yeasts and aged in a combonation of stainless steel and cement casks.
What do you taste? Well, not vanilla, not wood and this is good. The wine is straightforward with a jam-packed cranberry and herb nose (lavender anyone?). A mix of fresh fruit and earth, lift and depth. It has ripe bright fruit on the palate that is overall, harmonious. Built beautifully on Telmo's trademark natural fruit tannin-acid twin-track. Juicy and deft, it's not just good and typical, nor merely delicious … this is spectacular wine for the money.
T. Rodriguez Rioja "LZ" $18 a bottle
