Oak aged traditional Rioja’s

Several years ago we used to be able to buy (in the UK ) oak aged riojas - notably from Tondonia. In the 2.5 years we have lived in Valencia I have not seen or tasted anything like them - they were particularly good with smoked salmon at Xmas.

Does anyone know where you can find these wines here in the Valencia region or a suitable alternative ( Spanish.) Albarino is ok but lacks the depth and only good Burgundy’s such as Mearsault or Puligny come close?

Riki

Hi there, one of the best things of classic Rioja wines is that they are quite different form other wines in Spain... Anyway, it is really easy to find wines like Tondonia or Bosconia in Valencia, off-line is shops like Mantequerias Castillo or on-line in our shop.... In addition, a nice experience that I will recommend you is to try an old Jean Leon –no that easy to find-, or a rather expensive alternative are Vega Sicilia wines... probably better to start with Valbuena.

Cheers!

Hi Riki, I suppose you mean the ";old style"; white Rioja. I used to like the Puerta Vieja White Crianza, but this wine is not available anymore in the old style. Recently Bodegas Tobia from Rioja has come up with very good white crianza. If I recall well his whte crianza won a Baco de Oro this year or last year. It shouldn’t be that difficult to find it in Valencia.
Guiri

Many thanks Paco, I’ll do some browsing on-line. As Guiri guessed it was the white riojas I was referring to. I have been fortunate enough to taste the occasional bottle of Leon and there are some Valbuenas in the cellar unopened from a trip to Rioja 20 years ago. It is probably time to ease a cork or two out now! Riki

Many thanks Guiri, it was indeed the white wines I was asking for. I will look around for them as up to now I have only seen the red Tondonia.

Regards Riki

Sorry, I did not understand you ;-) Anyway, I still have an alternative… the old white wines from Can Rafols dels Caus are the answer, quite different from old Rioja, but also attractive and subtle ;-)

Cheers!