Fans of Rioja wines were in for a treat this evening! Not only did we have Toronto's own Mark Moffatt guiding us through each of the 8 Rioja wines, but we had Ana Fabiano (who literally wrote the book on the Rioja region) guiding us through what to look out for in great Rioja wines, all supported by Clement Gallois of Rioja Canada.
The eight wines were once again split into mini-bottles and beautifully packaged up (thanks to Rioja Canada!) ready for contactless delivery around the city by the volunteer directors.
Ana Fabiano took centre stage on Zoom (from her New York base) to describe Rioja: its regions, the geography, the terroir and its bodegas. With her unique insights and passion for this remarkable region, she took us on a journey exploring all that Rioja has to offer. During these lockdown days this was wine travel at its best (and when we can travel again, this trip around the wine and food regions of Northern Spain with Ana will be top of my list!).
Mark Moffatt then provided the tasting commentary for the evening, describing the appearance, the full gamut of Rioja nose, and used the most vibrant of descriptions of the taste for Ana's benefit. He described how the different tannins sat on the palate for example - "dancing on the teeth" in one, whilst others had more "grippy" tannins. It was certainly a journey of taste for us all and we were so lucky to have these two guiding us through this magical wine region.
Here were the scores for the night - Mark giving the Guest scores:
A truly special evening with some of the best examples of the Rioja region up for tasting, with Ana giving us her deep insights and sharing her passion for these wines.
See the original notice for tasting notes:
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