Our wine expert picks a trio from lesser-known brands that fly under the radar
Bargain Riojas
Acuro Organic Rioja Reserva 2017
Viña Cerrada Rioja Reserva 2019
García Carrión Antaño Crianza Rioja 2019
What a difference a year can make, eh? Or several years, for wine. Today’s recommendations share three things, besides being red Rioja wines. Each is from a winery or brand that flies under the radar next to big names like Campo Viejo, Rioja Vega, CVNE and Marques de Riscal. Each has had extra bottle ageing on top of its minimum requirements (two years for Crianza, including one in oak; three for Reserva, with one in oak; five for Gran Reserva, with two in oak). And each is a bona fide bargain.
Elsewhere, La Maldita Rioja from old-vine Garnacha (€10, reduced from €15, SuperValu) is vibrant and modern, while Faustino Rivero Ulecia Reserva Rioja 2019 Tempranillo-Graciano (€15, Tesco) is big and bold but structured.
If budgets are looser, try your local independent or online wine merchant for winemakers and bodegas such as Álvaro Palacios/Palacio Remondo, Artuke, Akutain, Badiola, Bideona, Beronia, Lágrimas de Bhilar, Lan, López De Heredia, Muga or Roda.
Wines of the weekThe Budget Bargain
García Carrión Antaño Crianza Rioja 2019
García Carrión Antaño Crianza Rioja 2019, Spain, 13.5pc, €8.29
Lidl’s Cepa Lebrel range of Rioja wines are solid crowd-pleasers, but for bang for buck, this Crianza (aged 12 months in oak) should be on your radar: dusky damson coloured with generous bottle age giving it some development, it still pops with big friendly aromas of forest fruit, vanilla scented and oak supported, leading to vibrant fruits given nice structure by ripe tannins. From García Carrión, a family-owned winery set up in 1890 when Rioja was filling the void left by phylloxera’s devastation of Bordeaux vines, and now Europe’s largest winery by volume, and the fourth-largest globally, according to The Drinks Business. Lidl
The People Pleaser
Viña Cerrada Rioja Reserva 2019
Viña Cerrada Rioja Reserva 2019, Spain 14pc, €15 (from €24)
This nicely poised Reserva blend of Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo frames vibrant red fruits with elegant oak spice and mineral graphite notes, with extra bottle ageing smoothing those tannins. Dunnes Stores, dunnesstoresgrocery.com
The Connoiseur’s Choice
Acuro Organic Rioja Reserva 2017
Acuro Organic Rioja Reserva 2017/2020, 13.5pc, €14.99 (from €21.99)
Try the 2017 for its developed earthy and rancio notes (Decanter World Wine Awards 2022 gave it 90 points) or enjoy the 2020 for its richer fruit. O’Briens Wine, obrienswine.ie