This rioja sits ruby red in the glass. It exhibits a fruity nose and on the palate there is dark fruit with some oak. The fruit is balanced with decent acidity and mild tannins. Good length too. A competent wine that certainly won't offend, and at this price what's not to like! So grip it n' sip it! June 2013.

Description: Opaque ruby in colour with medium+ intensity in the nose.

Positives: The nose is just lovely featuring sandalwood, cloves, cinnamon & coconut. The taste features oak, sour cherry, plums and raspberry tea.

Negatives: The taste doesn’t measure up to the nose.

Interesting Things: I reviewed the 2007 in Nov 2011 and in comparison this one falls well below it. It also has a more opaque appearance and a higher alcohol content of 14%.

Drink now on its own or pair it with pulled pork sandwich.

Tasted: 25 Jan 13

Score: 8.5/10, Value: 9.5/10, Total: 17/20

Out of 5 stars, I rated this wine: 3.5

A very nice & fairly easy drinking wine.

The nose was quite nice with rich red fruits & very little wood or smoke, but the real treat for me was the explosion of ripe raspberries & cherries. Sadly, I didn't catch the hint of vanilla.

The only thing I didn't overly care for was the finish. It went from this wonderful berry and almost plum experience to fairly dry, leaving my taste buds wanting it to last longer.

Over all, especially for the $11.95 value, very enjoyable.