A Rioja at the peak of its powers

2011 Miguel Merino Rioja Reserva VitolaThis Rioja is is fresh and well-balanced, says Matthew Jukes, with extra levels of plushness and sexiness.

Matthew Jukes
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published
in Features

2011-Miguel-Merino-Rioja

2011 Miguel Merino Rioja Reserva Vitola, Spain£27.95, DavyWine.co.uk

With 24 Davy's wine bars and five El Vino wine and tapas bars in London, James Davy is a very important man in terms of keeping the capital's wine aficionados well lubricated. Most of the wines that Davy sells are exclusives and, as they are also available to purchase by private clients, I thought I would highlight one of the stellar wines in his list for you.

Back in 1994, Miguel Merino restored a farmhouse and built a winery and barrel cellar in Briones in the heart of Rioja. His style has always been modern, fruit-driven, lusty and memorable. Vitola is a reserva level wine and it comes from the highly successful 2011 vintage.

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What I like most about it, aside from the flavour, is the fact that it is now seven years old and very close to reaching its peak of drinking. This is an important point because, all too often, great Spanish tempranillo seems to be too youthful and in need of more time to soften and develop. It is annoying, pulling odd bottles from your cellar only to have to send them back again for a few more years' slumber!

Vitola is fresh, intense, long and very well-balanced. There is an extra level of plushness and sexiness here which suits with strident oak and decadent fruit intensity. Of course, it will hold for a further five years with ease, but I urge you to buy and drink this wine soon, while it is at the peak of its powers.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

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.

 

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