Vikas Sharma

At the end of December, I wrote a review of a 2011 Montecillo Gran Reserva – and it was quite good – and then last Friday, my partner pulled out a 2001 vintage from the wine cabinet and asked me something like “would it be okay to drink this now?”

My response was something like “if not now, when?”

It was a “new recipe” night, so we were working on a pie from Ottolenghi’s Plenty, and I figured the earthy structure of pie would go well with a 21 year-old Rioja.

The pie was composed of a phyllo base and top – with chard, spinach, other herbs and spices, some egg, as well as sharp cheddar cheese.

It was a definite match with this wine – so with that, on with the show:

Wine: Montecillo

Region/Appellation: La Rioja (Navarrete)

Grape(s): Tempranillo

Vintage: 2001

Style: Red

Price: $188 (if you wanted to buy it today) – I probably paid around $50 for this bottle

The Visual: Oily viscosity in the glass with medium legs – dark intensity in colour, which was garnet with a brick-coloured rim.

The Aroma: Medium intensity in aroma, with a tasty impression. The nose contained notes of Clove, Dark Cherry, and Leather.

The Flavour: Was medium + in intensity, and was medium-bodied. With fleshy/grippy tannins, and flavours of Mushroom, Olive, slightly herbaceous, with Blackberries.

Alcohol: medium at 13%.

Balance: The flavours were very well balanced with a medium finish.

Other notes: Dry – with a strong structure. Very pleasant aromas and flavours.

Food pairing: You’ll see the food pairing notes above.

Final Comments: Another homerun for this vineyard! And like the 2011 bottle we had a couple of months back, this vintage is classified as “Excelente” – what a score!

Cheers – Salud – Salute – Živeli – Prost – Na Zdrowie – Skål – Santé