2004 Dalmau Reserva
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Tasting notes
(this wine was reviewed in July 2008 and is a library release, with a price to match) Deep ruby. Potent cassis and blueberry aromas show excellent clarity and lift, and cigar box, licorice and vanilla notes add complexity. Supple, broad and appealingly sweet, offering concentrated dark berry, cola, vanilla and peppery spice flavors and a smoky quality that emerges on the back half. Finishes long and smooth, featuring slow-building tannins and lingering blue fruit and oak spice qualities. For a 13-year-old wine, this one is extremely youthful.
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
86% Tempranillo, 6% Mazuelo, 3% Garnacha. 24 months in new French oak. Smoky, mineral and a hint of liquorice. Lovely tangy freshness and a fresh lightness of touch. Finesse and length. (JH)
Opaque purple. Sexy, oak-spiced blackberry, cherry-cola and vanilla on the nose, with subtle floral and baking spice qualities adding complexity. Fat and sweet, with deep dark berry liqueur flavors, a velvety texture and obvious oak character. Emphatically modern, with strong finishing spiciness and lingering jammy berry flavors. If your Rioja paradigm is the traditional style, this one will cause apoplexy.
The 2004 Dalmau Reserva is sourced from a single 50+ year old plot within the 300 hectare Ygay estate. Made from a blend of 86% Tempranillo, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Graciano, the wine was aged for 21 months in new French barriques. Dark ruby/purple-colored, it reveals an aromatic array of toasty new oak, spice box, mineral, blueberry, and black currants. Considerably more powerful than its traditionally made siblings, on the palate if is full-bodied, firm, layered, and quite concentrated. The spicy flavors fall on the dark side of the spectrum with blackberry, plum, and black currant in the forefront. The wine has at least a decade of aging potential and will be at its peak from 2015 to 2030 although it can be enjoyed now with a charcoal-grilled ribeye. Marques de Murietta remains a benchmark for traditional Rioja. Like many traditional producers in Rioja, Marques de Murietta has begun fashioning a modern (some would say international) style of Rioja. Importer: Maisons Marques & Domaines USA; Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 587-2000