The very best of Spanish reds

published 18 July 2008

2004 Bodegas Roda I Reserva, Rioja, Spain (£35.00, Laithwaites, 0870-066 5689; Swig, 08000-272272, www.swig.co.uk; Eagle Wines, 020-7223 7209).

Last week I attended a tasting entitled 'The New Wave Spanish Wine Awards 2008'. Of the 124 wines that were 'awarded', I picked out around 20 that I thought were very good indeed. There were far too many stewed, raspingly tannic, old-wave reds for my taste, but on the upside the sherries were incredible and there were more than a handful of funky whites, which I will let you know about another time.

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Remember this name because it will become a legendary wine in years to come. Made from 30-year-old, very low yielding, Tempranillo vines and matured in French oak barrels (half new, half one year old) for 16 months and then for an additional 20 months in bottle before release, this is one of the greatest Spanish red wines I have ever tasted! It is perfectly clean, bright and long and it brims with determination, class and distinction. There is no trace of stinky oak, no hospital ward detergent and not even the merest whiff of Benylin to be found anywhere on the nose or palate.

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

The very best of Spanish reds

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