SOMMELIER QUICK TIPS - Rioja Trade Portal · 2017-03-28 · SOMMELIER QUICK TIPS ... , but our...
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SOMMELIER QUICK TIPS Building a relationship with on-premise patrons may be greatly elevated by working with DOCa Rioja wines. Rioja is among the top great Old World wine regions in reputation, longevity, and well-known as a fantastic value at all levels of production and aging. It is not easy to find wines that pair well with food and provide the “meditation/wow” factor as well. The key to DOCa Rioja delivering on both is the structure and balance of our wines – moderate and balanced in acid, soft tannins and alcohol. Rioja’s grape varieties age over decades to retain structure and develop complex aromas. This structural balance also overcomes challenges in storage and service temperatures for restaurants, hotels and wine bars. Here is a quick primer on the Rioja region and its wines for sommeliers and food/beverage directors… § One of the world’s top wine regions, equal to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barolo. Spain’s first DOCa region. § Diverse styles – fresh young whites, rosés, young reds, aged red and white wines. Rioja Wine Styles link § Noted for oak aging traditions; modern styles and oak-less wines are also gaining in popularity. § Regulations ensure that the wines, when released, are ready to drink, making them an excellent investment. § Tempranillo (tem-pra- knee-yo) is the primary red grape variety accounting for 80% of our vineyards and thereafter Viura is the white grape. § Aromatics – fresh red fruit, dried red fruit, bright red cherry, plum, baking spices, exotic Asian spices, cigar box, eucalyptus are typical of many Rioja red wines. Citrus, straw and wild field flowers are typical of our young white wines; rosés will have strawberry and red cherry on the nose with a lot of minerality. § Balanced palate – moderate in alcohol, fruit /tannin/acid, forgiving of changes in storage and service temperatures § Savory and fruit palate (vs fruit-forward) RIOJA BY THE GLASS The business of working with Rioja makes it an hard to match value for the quality. Rioja white wines, rosés and tintos (reds) all work very well by the glass. A notable surprise for wine directors and patrons are Rioja Reservas, which are exceptionally priced for by the glass as well as reserve lists. Find Rioja wine styles here BUILDING THE LIST WITH DOCA RIOJA Our stringent quality control grape varieties and aging styles make Rioja a very safe and satisfying choice for a bottle or reserve wine list. Why? § Ready to drink. DOCa Rioja regulates minimum aging for our wines, so that they are released only when ready to drink. Rioja wines may age a lot longer, but our standards ensure that when a sommelier opens a bottle of Rioja the patron will not be disappointed. Check with your importer for specifics on wines. § Great vintages are in the market now. Rioja is the only still-wine region to declare each vintage, based on harvests and outcomes. Reserva and Gran Reserva Rioja wines are generally made in Very Good (MB) or Excellent (E) vintages; wine directors should easily be able to find Reserva and Gran Reserva Rioja to buy from the millennium’s star vintages – 2001, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011. Check our vintage master chart § Excellent price/value factor. You may put aged Rioja Reserva or Gran Reserva wines on the list, keep bottle prices reasonable and still maintain a very good margin on these wines.
Transcript of SOMMELIER QUICK TIPS - Rioja Trade Portal · 2017-03-28 · SOMMELIER QUICK TIPS ... , but our...
SOMMELIERQUICKTIPS
Buildingarelationshipwithon-premisepatronsmaybegreatlyelevatedbyworkingwithDOCaRiojawines.
RiojaisamongthetopgreatOldWorldwineregionsinreputation,longevity,andwell-knownasafantasticvalueatalllevelsofproductionandaging.Itisnoteasytofindwinesthatpairwellwithfoodandprovidethe“meditation/wow”factoraswell.
ThekeytoDOCaRiojadeliveringonbothisthestructureandbalanceofourwines–moderateandbalancedinacid,softtanninsandalcohol.Rioja’sgrapevarietiesageoverdecadestoretainstructureanddevelopcomplexaromas.Thisstructuralbalancealsoovercomeschallengesinstorageandservicetemperaturesforrestaurants,hotelsandwinebars.
HereisaquickprimerontheRiojaregionanditswinesforsommeliersandfood/beveragedirectors…
§ Oneoftheworld’stopwineregions,equaltoBordeaux,Burgundy,Barolo.Spain’sfirstDOCaregion.§ Diversestyles–freshyoungwhites,rosés,youngreds,agedredandwhitewines.RiojaWineStyleslink§ Notedforoakagingtraditions;modernstylesandoak-lesswinesarealsogaininginpopularity.§ Regulationsensurethatthewines,whenreleased,arereadytodrink,makingthemanexcellentinvestment.§ Tempranillo(tem-pra-knee-yo) istheprimaryredgrapevarietyaccountingfor80%ofourvineyardsandthereafter
Viuraisthewhitegrape.§ Aromatics–freshredfruit,driedredfruit,brightredcherry,plum,bakingspices,exoticAsianspices,cigarbox,
eucalyptusaretypicalofmanyRiojaredwines.Citrus,strawandwildfieldflowersaretypicalofouryoungwhite wines;roséswillhavestrawberryandredcherryonthenosewithalotofminerality.
§ Balancedpalate–moderateinalcohol,fruit/tannin/acid,forgivingofchangesinstorageandservicetemperatures§ Savoryandfruitpalate(vsfruit-forward)
RIOJABYTHEGLASSThebusinessofworkingwithRiojamakesitanhardtomatchvalueforthequality.Riojawhitewines,rosésandtintos(reds) allworkverywellbytheglass.AnotablesurpriseforwinedirectorsandpatronsareRiojaReservas,whichareexceptionallypricedforbytheglassaswellasreservelists.FindRiojawinestyleshere
BUILDINGTHELISTWITHDOCARIOJAOurstringentqualitycontrolgrapevarietiesandagingstylesmakeRiojaaverysafeandsatisfyingchoiceforabottleorreservewinelist.Why?
§ Readytodrink.DOCaRiojaregulatesminimumagingforourwines,sothattheyarereleasedonlywhenreadyto drink.Riojawinesmayagealotlonger,butourstandardsensurethatwhenasommelieropensabottleofRioja thepatronwillnotbedisappointed.Checkwithyourimporterforspecificsonwines.
§ Greatvintagesareinthemarketnow.Riojaistheonlystill-wineregiontodeclareeachvintage,basedonharvests andoutcomes.ReservaandGranReservaRiojawinesaregenerallymadeinVeryGood(MB) orExcellent(E) vintages;winedirectorsshouldeasilybeabletofindReservaandGranReservaRiojatobuyfromthemillennium’s starvintages–2001,2004,2005,2010,2011.Checkourvintagemasterchart
§ Excellentprice/valuefactor.YoumayputagedRiojaReservaorGranReservawinesonthelist,keepbottleprices reasonableandstillmaintainaverygoodmarginonthesewines.
SERVICETEMPERATURES&GLASSESWineStorage–idealat55°Fforredsandwhitesforthewinelist.Coldcaseisfineforblancosandrosados.
WineService–Riojaredsareidealat61°F;inthe5to10minutesbetweenorderandservice/pouringRiojaredsshouldwarmupabit,andmoreoncepouredintheglass.Usewhitewineglassesforwhites/rosés.Bordeauxglassesforalltintos,allagingstyles.
RememberthatRiojawineswillstarttoshowbeautifularomasthemomenttheyhittheglass.Asthewinescometoroomtemperatureduringthemeal,themoderatealcoholinRiojawineswillmaintainthebalancedpalatethroughoutandevenmorearomaswillemerge.Decantingshouldnotbenecessary,unlessthewineisofmid-1990’svintageoroldertoremovepossiblesediment.Decantingtoaerateshouldnotgenerallybenecessary.
LABELSONTHEBOTTLE–RiojaWineStylesRiojaisonlysoldinbottles,eachwitha“trustseal”labelindicatingtheagingofthewines.
§ Green“Cosecha”label–wineswithlittleornooakaging,ormadeinamodernstyle.Thesewineswillemphasizefruitandfreshness,withlessspice.Light,mediumbodyforwhites/rosésandfullbodyformodernredwines.Rubytopurpleforreds,lightsalmontodeeppinkforRosés.Seafood,saladsforblanco/rosé,spicyfoodsformodernreds.about$10to$15bytheglasspricingonyoungwines;$100+formodernredsforthelist.
§ Red“Crianza”label–musthaveoneyearofoakaging,andmoreinthebottlebeforereleasetomarket.RedCrianzasarewonderfulbytheglasswines,showingspicesandoakflavors.Mediumbody.Forloversofblends,everydaywine.Burgers,cheeses,mushrooms.Darkrubyred.about$9to$14bytheglass.
§ Maroon“Reserva”label–Requiredtobeagedoneyearinoak,2yearsinbottle.MostReservasgetatleastanotheryearofoakaging.Morearomatics,fullbodied,smoothandpersistentonthepalate–achangefortheCabernetSauvignon/Bordeauxlover,ChiantiandBrunellofan.Rubyredtogarnet.Roasts,stews.$20bytheglass;$50to$200winelists.NootherregionworldwidecandeliverthisqualityatRiojaReservapricepoints.RemainsthebestvalueRiojaforwinelists.
§ DarkBlue“GranReserva”label–Requiredtobeaged2yearsinoak,3yearsinbottle–manyareagedwellbeyondminimums.Thesewineswillshowelegance,balanceandhighcomplexaromas,belighterrubytogarnetincolor,withlighttomediumbody.ForhighqualityPinotNoirandBarololovers.Elegantmeatpreparations,meditationwines.$90andhigherdependingonvintage.
