The Undeniable Brilliance of Juan Señor de Lesmos

I buy a case of the Senor de Lesmos Crianza for my cellar every vintage—except for the years that I buy two cases. K&L has been direct importing this producer for over a decade now, and it remains, in my eyes, the best value in red wine that we consistently have in stock. Over the past couple of months, Cinnamon and I have been going back and opening some older bottles of this Rioja, and even though our expectations were high, we were surprised by just how good these wines are with a little bit of extra bottle age.

Don’t get me wrong, at $12.99, and released after 14 months in barrel and at least a year in bottle, these are wines that I buy to drink now. I just make sure a bottle or two is set aside for the future. After tasting the older ones, I might have to buy two cases—a now and later pair! I have been telling all of my colleagues who have home cellars or wine lockers that they need to start keeping some of these—and now I am telling you- drinking these after a little bit of time is a fine wine experience—not just a good deal.

The Senor de Lesmos wines come from a 50-acre estate in Rioja Alta. They only use what they grow for their production. The vineyard is planted to 35 acres of Tempranillo, 7 ½ acres of Mazuelo, 5 acres of Garnacha, and 2 ½ acres of the white grape Viura. The Crianza is aged in mostly American oak (around 75%) with a little bit of Bosnian and French oak to round out the blend. It is composed of about 85% Tempranillo and 15% Mazuelo. These wines are earthy and decidedly medium-bodied as a group, so if you are looking for something jammy or big, they won’t be your style. If you are looking for a great wine to pair with food, this is an excellent choice.

Last night, we drank the 2016 Bodegas Casa Juan Señor de Lesmos Crianza Rioja, which I bought my first case of on Friday. Cinnamon and I had masked up and made a trip to the farmers market, which was overflowing with beautiful summer produce, and we decided to make a paella. With chicken and bacon rounding out the green beans, zucchini, golden squash, red and yellow bell peppers, and heirloom tomato sofrito, it was a big success. I decanted this bottle an hour ahead of dinner, and it was singing. The first thing that struck me about this wine was the generous, open aromatics of the wine, lovely new leather, earth, and just a touch of biscuit du cheval complexity. At four years old, this wine has already got a little of the silky texture that develops so nicely over time, and while it has plenty of dark brambly fruit, the back end is very refreshing and bright. What a killer with paella!

We had the 2009 vintage with chicken tequila sausages from Robert’s of Woodside and farmers market fava beans. This was riper than the rest from that sunny vintage, and the new leather had a chance to turn into a proper vanilla cake on the also generous nose. I had underlined and capitalized TOO EASY TO DRINK in my wine notebook and loved the fact that this wine had a lot of ripe dark fruit, but the acidity to match it.

The 2006 vintage had a great mineral streak on the very long finish, and we paired it with merguez sausage from Dittmer’s and risotto cakes. This wine was very fresh and vibrant at 14 years old, and I noted that I would have guessed that it was a current release if served blind. The lovely leather aromas and subtle dark fruit made this an exceptional experience.

I opened my last bottle of 2005, hoping that it would not show well. We were already two half bottles of incredibly good Manzanilla sherry deep when I decanted it. Plans like that always backfire, and I have to admit to being a little bit slow and tired the next day. We had made a meaty paella on a beautiful Sunday, and this wine was over the top fantastic. Like the others, this bottle had lovely new leather and vanilla cake aroma and good dark cherry fruit. It was set apart by the texture- it had a silkiness that I usually only find in very high quality aged Bordeaux. It also had a finish that would be the envy of many a $100 bottle. To think all it took was $12.99 and some patience! Sadly, it was my last bottle. I guess it is time to buy a 2nd case of that 2016!

A toast to you,

Gary Westby