Imperial Reserva Rioja Tempranillo Blend

An intensely powerful nose redolent of smoky brambles and spicy roasted strawberries. The palate has the same elements as the nose. While light on fruit and weight, the wine in intensely aromatic. The finish is moderately long to long and shows all of the same elements. An intense display of complex flavors. Continues to open for several hours. An initial slight bitterness in the finish disappears quickly and is replaced by warm, rounded smoky red spicy flavors. A wine to pair with any dish with smoked meats and especially smoked bacon. A very nice wine. 4-13 buy.

Tired. Not bad but on the downslope.

Great balance. Lovely nose, palate and moderately long finish. Soft and silky on palate. Needs at least 1 hour. Very nice wine. Fades after 2 hours

Very tasty, meaty, slightly musky Rioja. A lot of sediment in the bottle and a touch matte in colour so perhaps it's had a bit of heat in its life. Initially it was actually quite chemically on the nose but it blow off after half an hour to reveal some nice smoky fruit and spice. Good but I'm sure there are better bottles of this out there.

Tried this too early in the night to make a fair assessment but this was rustic, old school and fascinating.

Exceptional

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