2001 Roda Reserva

I must confess that I find the 2001 Roda II Reserva excessively oaky on the nose, denuding the aromatics of a sense of place. Touches of jammy strawberry and cassis notes try and fail to get past that oak. The palate is very sweet, almost viscous on the entry, endowed with ripe opulent red fruit. But I feel that the finish shows signs of over maturity with a tincture of prune and date. Drink now-2016+ The wines from Bodegas Roda should need no introduction. “We want to offer consistency,” winemaker Gonzalo Lainez told me. “We own and control 28 different vineyards and we choose the best seventeen every year. The Reserva is more red fruit character, more gastronomic. Other single vineyards that have a black fruit character are not so easy to find at an early stage and are blended into Roda I. So vineyards can end up in either, or be sold off. We work under three tenets. We like acidity in our wines, the oak must play a secondary role and the most important, supple tannins.” I enjoyed the wines of Roda, but to be frank, I often found myself searching for a sense of personality, as if the wines were somehow pre-designed instead of working with what Mother Nature gifts. They are highly pleasurable, but in an age where high-end consumers are looking for wines that say something, I would like to see the wines from Roda opening their mouths. Moreover, I do detect the oak too often, analogous to a supporting actor reading the leading actor’s lines. These tasting notes derive from samples that were mostly tasted twice in the UK. Importer: Kobrand, New York, NY; www.kobrandwine.com

Dark red. Cinnamon, clove and vanilla accent bright red berry and cherry aromas. An attractive, silky midweight with a sweet cherry flavor dusted by subtle notes of mocha and minerals. Oak notes appear on the gently tannic finish but do not intrude on the fresh redcurrant and cherry fruit. This is drinking very well right now.