2001 Bodegas Riojanas Monte Real Gran Reserva

The Rioja that Shocked the NYC Somms

Presenting a flight of classic-vintage wines to a group of sommeliers is often a fraught experience: The best of them taste so much extraordinary wine that they tend to be a jaded bunch, and even the so-called grand-slam bottles fall flat. And when these top-flight tastings take place in NYC, where some of the best palates in the world work? Well, you can imagine the blasé reactions that often occur.

But when Bodegas Riojanas presented four of the best vintages in recent memory—the 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2010—none of that happened. The room fell silent as we went through the wines, each shimmering in various shades of brick and garnet in their Riedel glasses. 

And then the whispers began: The sommeliers swooned over the 2001’s ethereal floral notes, punchy dried cherry fruit, and stunningly long finish flecked with tobacco and spice. We overheard one of them—the head sommelier at one of the top French restaurants in the city with a well-known preference for the wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux—say that she felt it “has the complexity of something mature from Vosne-Romanée and the stuffing of a First Growth or Super Second from Pauillac.”

But that’s what a great library-release of Rioja Gran Reserva does, even to professionals: It breaks through jadedness and cynicism, and inspires something that all great, mature bottles should—pure, unfettered joy.

The 2001 Bodegas Riojanas Monte Real Gran Reserva has reached a glorious new level of complexity, delicacy, and unexpected vibrancy as it approaches its 20th birthday. It is overflowing with dried red fruits—cherry, strawberry, red currants, plums—all accented by secondary notes of tobacco, bakers chocolate, dusty earth, and peppery spice. Wine Enthusiast likewise praised its “flavors of dried raspberry, plum, earth and brown sugar” as “solid and classic.” 

Bodegas Riojanas sits right in the heart of Rioja Alta and was founded in 1890 during the glory years of the region. Since then, it has often set the standard for the best vintages. This 2001 is no different. No less an authority than Wine Spectator reported that “hot, dry weather gave ripe wines with opulent flavors and powerful structure.” That golden combination has only gotten even better in the years since the fruit was harvested, resulting in a wine that remains one of the benchmarks of the past half-century.

Rioja itself, if you consider the region in its entirety, is perfect for the production of age-worthy wines. The Cantabrian Mountains to the north help moderate scorching daytime temperatures, as do the cooling breezes off the Ebro River. Both help to stretch out the growing season, allowing late-maturing Tempranillo to ripen slowly and incrementally.

Truthfully, we don’t offer much Rioja here at Wine Access—but when we find one of high quality with a great value proposition—and, in this case, that’s already been impeccably aged and is ready to be enjoyed immediately—we cut the deal on the spot. Don’t wait.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 13.50%
• 30 mins
• Now – 2028
• % Tempranillo
• Serving temperature – 58°
• Cork