Item Description
Wine Spectator 93
"Big and bold, this red shows plum, licorice, tar and coffee flavors. Austere but harmonious, in a savory style, with muscular tannins giving this formidable structure. Rather tough, but shows impressive concentration. Best from 2018 through 2030. 1,000 cases imported."
Obalo
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Bodegas Obalo was born in 2006 in the heart of the Sierra de Cantabria, a region that starts in two called the Rioja Alavesa and was considered a perfect setting for the unbeatable quality of its vineyard.
The privileged location in what could be considered the best wine region in Spain , both because of its location sheltered from the Sierra de Cantabria, as well as its soils , also joins the continuous search for complicity with the winemakers of the area . All these are factors that are decisive for the achievement of the main objective of Bodegas Obalo, which is to produce the great wines that this unique land is capable of giving.
The winery is located right on the border of La Rioja Alta, although most of its vineyards are distributed by the Rioja Alavesa. The modern architecture of harmonious square lines and practical and innovative installations reveal the youthfulness of this winery that, nevertheless, does not lose sight of Rioja's wine tradition from which it drinks through the close relationship it maintains with the vine growers of the area. .
From its viewpoints you can also see the privileged place in which it is framed, with a unique landscape of imposing rocky mountain to the north and a sea of vineyards to the south.
An engaging, well-structured, and mineral-inflected wine
"Pours inky garnet with coarse sediment in the last few mL. Followed over two nights. During the first evening the wine was tightly wound and a little austere. Some dark fruits and char were evident, but subdued. This had opened up by the second night. Powerful and mineral-inflected (rust, dry earth, rock dust) with supporting dark fruits (blackberry, black cherry) and spices. Tight-knit structure with thick, youthful tannins and lively, medium(+) acid that complement a warm, round mouthfeel.This could use another 2-4 years to unwind, and should hold for several more thereafter, so drink ~2020-2028. Perhaps atypical for Rioja (blind, we may have been in Graves or the Medoc) it is nevertheless, an engaging, well-structured, and mineral-inflected wine. "Very good-to-excellent," 90/100."