2009 Cirsion

Mediterranean vintage. Fermentation in large temperature-controlled oak vats. Ageing in 100% new French oak barrels. Natural stabilisation, clarification with egg whites. Production: 8,350 bottles. Deep, bright crimson. Broad, rich nose. Lots of ripeness. Very sweet start – fruit almost hides any tannins. Though there’s a little brûlée note on the end like bordeaux 2003s and 2009s. More rich and a bit of torrefaction. Not my favourite style but it certainly transmits the style of the year. Falls away a bit. (JR)

The 2009 Cirsion is matured for eight months in 100% French oak and that continues to drive the aromatic profile, although underneath lie intense black fruit with small dark cherries and creme de cassis. The palate is full-bodied with a firm grip. It is very oaky and tannic at the moment, very demonstrative with huge grip and layers of oaky dark berries mixed with allspice and tar that dovetails into an more elegant blackberry pastille and cassis-tinged finish. This behemoth needs several years in bottle. Drink 2018-2025. 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

Opaque purple. Ripe blueberry, boysenberry and potpourri aromas are accented by flamboyant oak spices. Lush, sweet and viscous, with deep but energetic blackcurrant, vanilla, mocha and cinnamon flavors. Impressively lithe for its sweetness and power, finishing with excellent clarity and persistence. This is extremely young but very promising.