By far the best wine we tasted in La Rioja. Many Yelp reviews start out the same way, but not from a person who tasted wine at 23 Bodegas in the Rioja Alta and Alavesa DOC. Having now tasted wine at over 225 wineries around the world, I can say that the three red wines we tasted here are spectacular representations of Tempranillo. All were showing great fruit, perfumed nose and rich color.
We tasted a beautiful white wine that Miguel makes in limited quantities and not every year.
We tasted 3 reds: 2012 Reserva, 2012 Gran Reserva and the 2015 Vina Jovenes. The price range was between 10 - 14 Euros. Wines of this quality at these price points have made the region wildly popular, spoiled the Europeans and simultaneously frustrated the US market with the high cost of shipping/distribution and marketing.
Our tasting was hosted by Miguel himself. His son Miguel, daughter-in-law, Erika joined in along with 8 friends who were from Spain. We were especially happy for Miguel and his new grandchild.
If you have limited time in La Rioja, visit Miguel. Going anywhere else could be a huge disappointment and a large waste of your time. Contact him before your visit to make sure someone is there for your tasting. We found him very responsive on email. His Bodega is right outside the walls of the medieval village of Briones.
We wished Miguel a long and happy life in his new role as grandfather.
The USA source for Bodegas Miguel Merino is K&L Wine Merchants. They have various locations. The representative is Shaun Green in the Redwood City office. read more