'Red Note' 2015 6L Imperial

Roda, compared to Roda 1, is based on a selection of Tempranillo which exhibits some red fruits and earth in the mix, with stricter, more structured blue-note Tempranillo which becomes Roda 1. Roda is a wine of great depth, tannin texture and class but in a relatively fruity and approachable register. This tendency towards open-hearted red fruit and earth is augmented with judicious blending, depending on the year, of some Garnacha, and/or Graciano.

Roda is grown from vines between 35-100 years' age, all dry grown 'en-vaso'. Hand picked, hand everything, it is fermented in open foudre, gravity decanted to age 15 months in new and 1yo French barrique, then gravity-decanted again for bottling (unfiltered, unfined) and cellar ageing before release. The garnacha component of Roda's wines comes from separate vineyards in Rioja Baja, at Tuldelilla and Alcanadre.

The aroma of RODA is a fine cocktail of berry, bramble, spice, earth and licorice. As always with Roda, the tannin perfume (and mineral smells) are as much a feature of the wine as fruit itself. The palate is full, lined with spice, leavened with pippy acid and tannins that are at once round and fresh. The wine is open and alive, with harmony a real feature: red fruits are floral with a touch of tea, balsamic with barberry and cranberry, glace cherry, briar and toasted thyme. With excellent roundness but not too fruity, it’s perfectly lined by delicately spiced tannin, releasing spaciously.