Musings on Rioja.  Add/Read Comments

It is the height of the Wine Tasting season in the UK - although I missed the large Argentinean generic tasting and will not be able to make tomorrows 'Cracking Wines From France' tasting, unfortunately - it explains the constant stream of tasting notes. From the dozens tasted I am only detailing those wines that I think really stand out; those that offer a point of difference, value for money or just good, flavoursome drinking. Many wines I have tried recently were hardly worth crossing the road for. Uninspiring. Drinkable but dull.

Today's Rioja in Retail tasting is a case in point; after slurping through a table of reds, whites and rosés I was distinctly underwhelmed. Admitidly the wines were at the cheaper end of the price scale but I wondered if I should bother tasting any more. I went for lunch (nowhere near as good as the French buffet yesterday) and went straight for the top end of the price bracket. We are talking £30/£40 a bottle. Better, as you would hope, but excessively priced.

It must just be Rioja. They fail to excite. Having said that there were just a few I think worth tracking down. Notes to follow over the next few days.