Winemaker Notes
Deep and vivid red with a red rim. Less covered than other warmer and drier vintages. It is intense with perfectly integrated oak that leaves details of elegance. The fruity sensation is black and red at the same time, reminiscent of plums and fresh cherries. There are sweet fine spices in the range of cinnamon and cloves. The nose is finished off with the freshness of humid earth on rainy days. It has medium and continuous volume, without troughs and highlights the freshness. There is a lot of fruit in the mouth and the cherry stands out over the plum. It brings back the memory of the part of the fruit that is next to the bone. Fresh and enveloping at the same time, with fine and lively tannins that mark a line of nerve in the wine. It has the length of the Atlantic vintages in which freshness is maintained and liveliness is present. It will be a long-aged wine that will refine its details even more in the bottle.
Blend: 92% Tempranillo, 6% Graciano, 2% Garnacha
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This shows very pleasant aromas of red fruit, underbrush and a pronounced herbal character. Medium- to full-bodied, it is tender and accessible, with a clear focus on drinkability and immediate pleasure. The tannins are subtle and the wine is composed, unfolding at its own pace with gentle length on the finish. 92% tempranillo, 6% graciano and 2% garnacha.
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Decanter
Favouring vineyard and vintage expression over extraction and oak, Bodegas Roda’s Roda I Reserva traditionally aims for a black fruit character of Tempranillo. In a rainier, Atlantic vintage like 2018, however, there’s a more supple and elegant tone that bridges darker cassis notes with lighter plum and cherry. Oak-derived spice is more apparent at this young age, but the length suggests excellent longevity.
Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.
Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.