2017 Roda I, Rioja Reserva, 3x1.5ltr

2017 Roda I, Rioja Reserva, 3x1.5ltr

ETA Late Autumn 2022

Made from 90% Tempranillo, 6% Graciano and 4% Garnacha, the 2017 has fantastic concentration of fruit on the nose with aromatic layers of abundant black plum and blueberries, cloves, black pepper and cinnamon. In the background there is a subtle white flower quality and aromas of moist earth and pleasant minerality. On the palate, it is voluminous and concentrated with fine, high quality tannins.

Availability: En Primeur

Case size: 3 / Bottle size: 1.5l

Duty Status
From £235.00

Critics Score: 94

Publication: James Suckling

Aromas of blackberries, ripe blueberries, figs, cedar and roasted meat. It’s medium-to full-bodied with plush tannins and fresh acidity. Juicy and textured with a polished, rich core of fruit and spice. Flavorful, long finish.
Bodegas Roda are at the cutting edge of wine-making in Rioja having undertaken an exhaustive analysis of many of the best vineyard sites in La Rioja Alta and picked 17 of the very best of these where the focus is on old vines that are dry-farmed. Roda have also completed extensive research into 552 Tempranillo clones to find the very best suited to current climatic conditions. Although the company was established in 1987, the winery in Haro wasn’t completed until 2001. By then it had gained its reputation as one of the top producers in the region. The winery was renovated in 2019, providing blending options such as individual vineyard vinification. They focus on minimum intervention with spontaneous fermentations, short macerations and French oak only to minimise oak impact. Sustainability practices are key for Roda, as a partner of the European SHIP2FAIR project supporting renewable sources of energy.

Roda differentiate between wines with a predominantly red-fruit character – labelled simply as Roda – and those with more balsamic black-fruit character, which were released as Roda I. This is a stylistic choice on the part of the winery and the goal being to create two different interpretations of Rioja.

2017 is a ‘Mediterranean’ vintage when conditions combine for some of the oldest vines to produce grapes of unique character; smaller berries than normal, huge concentration and fullness and a silkiness of tannin due to polymerization of the tannins and anthocyanins in the grape. The yields are lower than usual due to a severe frost on 29th April and the harvest started on 4th September, the earliest in their history.