2000 La Rioja Alta Via Alberdi Rioja

O

Oswaldo Costa

Oswaldo Costa
2000 La Rioja Alta Via Alberdi Rioja 12.5%
Saw this at a reasonable price while having lunch at a local Spanish restaurant and took a bottle home. It was oxidised, but not knowing if it was pre or not, I took it back and they gave me a new one. Good thing I did, because the second was lovely. Not a top of the line Rioja Alta cuve and possibly not intended for this much ageing, but showed a very pleasant cherry and dill nose with some funk that soon blew off. Biting acidity, simple but attractive fruit, resolved tannins, well-integrated American oak. Mature, probably won't get any better, and very nice. Hooray for the old style.
 
Good enough that it's made it this far! 2000 was not a great vintage in Rioja. The 2001s will live longer - and even the lightly regarded 1999s, I'd say.
 
These notes remind me somehow of recent Riscal Riservas I've had....given a decent bottle, they open up nicely after about 2 hrs. (Think the 04 was most recent bottle.) Not trying to be anything but itself.
 
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