El Domador Del Valle Rioja Reserva

El Domador del Valle is ‘The Valley Tamer’ and a bit like the Rioja magicians of old we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve when it comes to finding seriously good quality, seriously good value Spanish red from this part of the wine world.

There’s nobody else in NZ more qualified (literally) to find Spanish gems than Master of Wine Steve Bennett. As another MW Bob Campbell puts it – “Steve has built his reputation on the quality of his imports.”

Steve regularly travels through Europe sniffing, swirling and spitting his way through thousands of wines to find the best and the best of the best to chuck on a boat and bring back to Aotearoa. He’s done the hard work for you in finding this seriously good Rioja Reserva label that Steve says is “A classic, mellow, mature Rioja that’s great drinking for the price”.

To be labelled Reserva it has to follow strict Rioja wine laws – aged for a minimum of 3 years including at least 12 months in oak (this one got aged for 30 months in oak and 6 months in bottle). With several years under its belt already this is a beautifully aged, smooth and mellow with plenty of bold, powerful red fruit flavours.

Dust off the cork screw (you’ll need it here!) and pair this Spanish beauty with roasted and grilled red meats, especially lamb.