Roda

Like Cune, they are based in Haro. They make two different wines with IDENTICAL quality and process inputs – there is little producer influence in what makes Roda 1 and Roda Reservas different, just fruit selection. Roda 1 is Tempranillo in an entirely blue fruits spectrum: road metal minerals, licorice, blueberry, tobacco, violets and all that, intensely mineral, long, road-like. Roda is made from a taste selection of Tempranillo that leaks into red fruit territory, and this softer, rounder, earthier natural variant in Tempranillo is tweaked a touch further in the same direction by blending in a bit of Garnacha or Graciano, to underpin the red-note, softer rounder earthier palate. In an ideal world, the latter wine would still be called Roda 2, and would be bottled in a burgundy bottle. SCOTT WASLEY importer