We had our GINI 16 back in Dec. 8, 2007. (And I’m blogging half year later, now how’s that possible?) I suppose many things were happening; there was GINI 17 (and I missed it), and there was Vegas and Napa (so quite a bit of wine already) So now in June 2008, we are having GINI 18.
Our theme this time is the two Spanish Rs, Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Vincent W have this for introduction of them:
Rioja – A leading wine region in Spain. Main red varitals: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, Graciano
Ribera Del Duero – An up and coming region that challenges the importance of Rioja. Main red varital is Tempranillo, although Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec are also allowed.
Here are the wines we had:
- Muga Rioja Reserva Selection Especial 1995
- Muga Rioja Reserva Selection Especial 1998
- Bodegas Alejandro Fernandez Tinto Pesquera Crianza Ribera Del Duero 2001
- Flor de Pingus Ribera Del Duero 2003
According to Vincent W, the bottling ‘Reserva Selection Especial’ for Muga is made in better years with longer aging in oak barrels than their normal Reserva. Also, Flor de Pingus is the 2nd wine of the expensive “cult” wine Pingus, which is 20 times more expensive than the one we are having.
Andrew and Vincent W have their tasting notes of the wine in the blog SeaTourist blog (see December 12th, 2007). Following is the voting results for our favorite in this tasting.
The GINI Spanish R&R Index
We ranked the bottles 1 to 4, add up the numbers, whichever one has the lowest score is the best. Here is the list of participants: Aaron, Andrew, Kwong C, Kwong T, Naomi, Stephanie, Vincent M, Vincent W and his parents.
Bottle # |
Vineyard |
Region |
Pts |
Group Rank |
My Rank |
1 |
Muga Rioja Reserva Selection Especial 1995 |
Rioja, Spain |
24 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
Muga Rioja Reserva Selection Especial 1998 |
Rioja, Spain |
18 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Bodegas Alejandro Fernandez Tinto Pesquera Crianza Ribera Del Duero 2001 |
Ribera Del Duero, Spain |
21 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
Flor de Pingus Ribera Del Duero 2003 |
Ribera Del Duero, Spain |
24 |
3 |
3 |