Benjamin Romeo La Vina de Andrea 2002
Dark ruby core, with a tight garnet rim. Still suppressed, the nose gives fresh, pure, juicy red and black cherry, with layers of cacao, spice and minerals. The palate gives pure dark fruit(very modern feel) with savoury elements, sequenced by tones of minerals and herbs. Long finish. Still a big wine after all these16 years, it is eventually ready to drink now.
Benjamin Romeo La Vina de Andrea 2002 is a 'Parker' wine in the proper sense and does have a great sense of place. He underscored it; hence it is still affordable for some. Although this is not the top wine from Benjamin Romeo, La Vina de Andres de Benjamin is not a little second wine. It challenges the top Cuvee Contador in style and is as good as the greats like Antardi, Fina Allende, San Vicent, to quote a few.
This wine represents some of the best efforts in a modern rendition of Rioja, which is in high contrast to the traditional approach to Rioja by La Rioja Alta(904, for example). Both wines interestingly give a great sense of place and are very tasty.
Some USPs:
Biodynamically made hence all things are well taken care of. Free-spirited wine not to conform to the strictures of the Consejo Regulador (the regional regulatory body) hence we are getting the best.
A beautiful juxtaposition of fiercely traditional winemaking practices and forward-thinking technology is classic Benjamin Romeo hence very easy to drink with a great sense of place.
Just 5500 bottles(only 3.5 ha!) for each year from 1kg of grapes per vine hence very high quality!
A selection of over twenty plots presents Benjamin with a complex set of ingredients for his blend.
At the infancy of this wine, not many people write about it. Parker did.
90 Points Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (159), June 2005
"What Romeo has achieved in the challenging 2002 vintage is impressive. A new cuvee, the 2002 La Vina de Andres Romeo, is a limited production effort dedicated to Benjamin Romeo's father. I found it somewhat monolithic, although it possesses loads of potential. A dense ruby/purple color is accompanied by a sweet bouquet of smoked herbs, licorice, cigar smoke, black currants, and figs. Opulent and loaded, but foursquare and angular, it was not singing the day I tasted it. The prices for these wonderful curiosities reflect their rarity as well as the high quality winemaking."
