Don't be surprised not to find these vintages in the US yet - they've only been released recently in Spain. And indeed the market is sluggish. OTOH, traditional Riojas are rarely very expensive.
Answering questions:
* Telmo Rodríguez has recently (2010) re-assumed the running of the family estate, Remelluri, in addition to his other estates (in Rioja, Lanzaga), after patching up his long-running feud with his father. He'd left back in 1998. Contrary to what Mr. Nossiter has written (sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Nossiter), Telmo is a thousand miles from being a Parker creature, and farther away every year. He'll do well, as his Altos de Lanzaga 06 would indicate. The latest pre-Telmo wines released have been the opposite of your description, Joel: the 2006 red is just too lean and unripe (it was a difficult vintage, and the estate is higher and colder than most others in Rioja), whereas the 2007 white is the best I've tasted to date. No longer a fruit cocktail, it's now mineral, precise and tension-packed. You can feel that the vines are now older, and also that the winemakers aren't looking for overripeness any longer. I would have included it in my list of classic whites were it not for its unorthodox blend (which includes garnacha blanca, muscat blanc à petits grains, chardonnay, roussanne, marsanne, sauvignon blanc, petit manseng and petit courbu). But it's very, very Rioja actually: it's the limestone soil that comes through this array of little bits of everything.
* Contino's TCA problem ruined its 1989, 1990 and 1991 vintages. Its first fine vintage after that was 1994. This was never considered a classic Rioja producer; indeed it was, with Marqués de Cáceres, one of the first 'modern style' producers (newer oak, all of it French, less time in barrel, more concentration in a more fruit-forward wine). But it has also confirmed what some of us always thought: the winemaking, and the style of a Rioja in its first few years of life, are not the most important things if it comes from a fine terroir, as the initially quite different wines will converge as they evolve in bottle. Indeed, a 1978 or 1980 Contino is not only wonderful now, but it's just as 'traditional Rioja' in its lightness and tertiary complexity as a López de Heredia or La Rioja Alta of the same age.
* I'm not crazy about Beronia, a large winery which makes rather formulaic wines, but at the Gran Reserva level they can be truly excellent, and always quite traditional. The 2001 is the best GR from that winery I've tasted in a long time. My list of current producers of traditional Rioja of reliable (sometimes outstanding) quality, usually at Reserva and Gran Reserva levels but in some cases Crianza as well, includes: López de Heredia-Viña Tondonia, La Rioja Alta, CVNE (Reserva and up), Amézola de la Mora, Bretón, Beronia, Exeo, Hermanos Peciña, Valenciso, Finca La Emperatriz, Bodegas y Viñedos de la Marquesa (Valserrano), Lanzaga. Muga, which is in sensational shape right now (great 2004 Prado Enea, back to its roots), may be the only winery excelling both in the modern and the traditional styles, depending on its cuvées.
