2008 Marques de Caceres Rioja Reserva
From: Rioja, Spain
Price: $20
Serve with: Fine cuts of beef, lamb
Finding a well-aged, high-quality red at a reasonable price isn't easy, but the world's most reliable source of wines that meet that description has be Spain's Rioja region. At 6 years old, this well-structured Rioja is a mere adolescent in its own development, but it's beginning to show the complexity that only comes with five or more years in the bottle. It's a deep, complex wine that improves in the glass with exposure to air. Decanting is called for. There's plenty of flavor of cedar, vanilla, spicy oak and black cherry. Thirty years ago someone of modest means looking to cellar a wine for decades could easily lay down a fine Bordeaux. In 2014, such a collector can still find values such as this Rioja, a fine example of its breed.
--Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun