1996 Rioja Reserva

Jun 26, 2006 5 Replies

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Joseph Coulter 20 years ago

Marques de Cacares,

wanted something a little different/special tonight. Opened up early bright, good red color, tannins left just a little edge on the teeth The nose is a bit closed but there are some of the heavier aspects lurking on the finish, looking forward to dinner in 2 hours.

It is our 12th anniversary, that night we had quail at Goodfellows in Minneapolis accompanied by some Merlot by the glass that defied description. Tonight lamb chops, Australian, tender maybe, and I am not making this up, as tender as I have ever had, thank you Costco garnished by a rub of thyme and garlic. At this point it is a toss up whether the wine or the chops were the best part of dinner, I will take my time deciding, meanwhile, the wine, oh yes, by dinner the nose was definitely with us, ripe ripe strawberries, that chewy leathery texture and by the end of dinner the tannins were completely gone with just a soft soft velvet finish that I just made complete with a piece of Lindt 70% dark chocolate. Take me now I am complete.

The good news, I have another bottle.

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Tom S 20 years ago

Happy anniversary! Glad the Costco lamb chops worked well for you. I'll have to give those a try.

Tom S

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Richard Neidich 20 years ago

We buy the Aus lamb at Costco all the time here in NC. It is GREAT!!!!

Honestly the NZ from Sams is better but Costco is more our Demographics.

You could go to Murray Steak in Minneapolis to if you want. I have done many a dinner then and its GREAT!!!

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Joseph Coulter 20 years ago

"Richard Neidich" wrote in news:%eKng.12390 $ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:

It is a long drive to Murray's these days as we are in the SE suburbs, Florida, and sometimes, it is hard to separate the good memories, from the quality of the food, everything was working last night and each piece seemed to support the rest.

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Mark Lipton 20 years ago

Thanks for the notes. It sounds like you had a great evening. I find the Caceres to be dependable if rarely awe-inspiring, but the '96 Reservas I've had have really impressed.

Happy Anniversary! Mark Lipton

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Santiago 20 years ago

Joseph Coulter wrote in news:Xns97EDD5AE1A059yourvacationcomcastn@216.196.97.136:

Joseph,

Marqués de Cáceres Reserva 1996 was great on release and is drinking very, very well right now. It has a great fruit and they did not ruin it by overoaking it as is the norm with most classic Bodegas. Perhaps the 1994 was marginally better, but this 1996 looked like a young wine when was released in 2001. I really look forward for the 2001, because Marqués de Cáceres knows how to make great wine in good vintages.

However, I have had a very bad experience with a Marqués de Riscal 2001, and I found Marqués de Murrieta 2001 a very good wine but a bit overoaked (at least it was good quality oak and not wet-old-oak). Let's hope it balances. At the price (12-15 euros in Spain) I think it is worth the risk.

If you like well done Riojas by the big bodegas, I suggest Contino (the single vineyard Reserva by CVNE). I had a beautiful bottle of the Reserva

2000 and I am really looking forward the 2001. None of these wines cost more than 15 euros in Spain.

Best,

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