R. Lopez de Heredia, Vina Cubillo Crianza, Rioja

Drinking beautifully now. Ripe cherries and Asian spices on the nose. Medium weight, tart but restrained cherries, dust, some funk and delicious.

2010 vintage

Simple wine, no depth, no complexity, already oxidative signs, a class of wine you get much better qualities nowadays in supermarkets in Spain and also for much less money!

2010 vintage

Coming into its own, delicious, best after an hour decant.

2010 vintage

Nicht dekantiert, im Glas dunkles rubinrot mit bräunlichen Reflexen am Rand, Bukett nach roten Früchten, am Gaumen zunächst etwas unausgewogen, deutlicher Holzton, am 2. Tag harmonischer, rote Früchte, leichte Holznote, gute Säure, mir fehlt etwas Fülle

2010 vintage

At age 15 this (L0580) has finally entered its drinking window. Decanted and aerated two hours before dinner, the sweet oak and dill that I disliked three years ago were integrated and silky. Otherwise it shows red and blue fruits, with a spicy mineral flavor, plenty of acidity, and a longish finish. It's a medium+ body wine with integrated tannins and a lovely 13.5% ABV. Drink to 2035. Good QPR.

2010 vintage

CORKED! Hate it when this happens. Got worse with air. Boooooo!

2010 vintage

Quite some time since I've had a Cubillo. This showed extremely well after some hours in the decanter. Fantastic vintage for LdH. Still very young but already delicious; sweet, sound fruit along the beautiful fresh acidity and LdH-transparency. Will age gracefully. Based on this showing: Hold your Tondonias/Bosconias 2010 as long as you can... 17+/20

2010 vintage

LdH is special in that even their entry-level red, at 14 years old, is not ready to drink. Based on this showing, my Tondonias and Bosconias will remain untouched. Color is dark cherry red, although fading at the edge gives away its age. At first sniff, American oak dominates, but with some time and swirling, dried cherry and a little pungent VA. Despite 25% Garnacha to soften the blend, this is tart and tannic on the palate. Some kirsch and …

2010 vintage

Needed the 4 hours of slow Ox I gave it, and probably more. Ripe red fruits, dried herbs, touch of spice, some Oak and still firm but pliable tannins.

2010 vintage

found this to be a bit austere. OK, but lacking depth.

2010 vintage

PNP, followed over the evening. Lovely red fruit, sour cherry. Some oak and vanilla, but not obtrusive. Medium body, medium+ acid, slightly chewy tannins. Long, sweet finish. Delicious and crushable in an old world style, like a Spanish bojo. Drink with short decant.

2010 vintage

I find this wine to be quite flat, all the way around. Drinkable, but no highlights.

2010 vintage

Cubillo smells expensive, even if it's short and abrupt. But the nose is a bargain. Ingredient laundry list of leather, hot cinnamon, coffee, chocolate, and sweet dates. The mouth feels raw, sour, and crunchy in a way that isn't bad, just less elegant.

2010 vintage

Etwas gereifter Duft nach Teer, welken Lilien, etwas Marzipan. Sehr schöne Säure, Sauerkirsche im Mund, auch dunklere Beerenfrüchte, dann wieder Erdbeere, etwas Kakao und Tabak. Sehr gute Länge.

2010 vintage

Tart cherries on the palate, very nice backbone of tannins and acid. Great to just sip or to pair with charcuterie or red meats.

2010 vintage

A first time tasting: cedar aroma and flavour dominant. Ainsi que bois de santal, des épices de la barrique, du cuir et la griotte. Souple et fondu. Saveurs de cèdre et de griotte. Gouleyant et mince. Finale moyenne. Prêt à boire. 88+

2010 vintage

Another good bottle, but I don't see these improving. Fruit relative to structure and oak can vary a lot in different vintages of Cubillo, and this strikes me as one which may yet hold for a few years but not sure it will ever improve much. It's fairly fruit-forward and carries more noticeable oak than most LdH wines. I know they use only very old and large wood, so perhaps more repairs to the old vessels, and therefore more new …

2010 vintage

This is a mathematical rating for me, because the wine was an 88 on night one, a 90 on night two, and I am confident that it will be a 91-92 in five years. Despite a 90 minute decant, on night one the sweet oak and dill bothered me a lot. It was more mellow on night two. The wine doesn't show 12 years of age ! It is bright and very sappy, redolent of red and blue fruits, with …

2010 vintage

I usually like Cubillo more, especially with 2010 being such a good vintage but this bottle was a bit "flat". I've had Cubillo 2010 previously and it was much more exciting than this bottle. Not sure if it was me or the wine.

2010 vintage

A lot of bottles produced and I'm happy to have had my case. This guys is perfect to drink now. Excellent blend. Gorgeous soft nose of plummy cherries and musky earth. There's an aspect of wet straw that had been sun dried. Palate has great balance of acid and fruit that make this a great steak wine. Would never turn down a glass of this. Beautiful even through to the next day of slow-ox. Yummy to the last.

2010 vintage

Very tired. Improved a tad with air, but these are just about gone.

2010 vintage

This did not taste to me. I was under the impression Crianza is not supposed to age this long yet I bought it not too long ago. Rookie mistake, did not enjoy it.

2010 vintage

Medium bodied, smooth yet complex wine! Initial smooth taste with crazy fun fruity/dry aftertaste. Great wine overall.

2010 vintage

Still showing a lot of wood character, displayed, as the prior taster notes, as a sort of vanilla sweetness. It needs rather bold food at this point. Seeing this is already more than a decade old, it's hard to say whether the wood note will ever fully integrate. There is ample fruit to match the wood but I'd personally like a bit more integration. Very good though still.

2010 vintage

Four months after the prior, and our last: Lovely, and once again, there is perhaps a touch/ hint of vanillin/ sweetness to this compared with prior vintages. Still, with trademark good acidity, it’s nicely in balance. Very much looking forward to the Tondonia from this vintage. Very enjoyable over three nights.

2010 vintage

Our final bottle. Similar to the prior — and highly enjoyable over three nights — yet showing just a bit of raisin at the last.

2003 vintage

A second bottle showed much more depth, and certainly savory spicy tertiary character, compared with our experience in October. At the same time, clear signs of age: Brown, with some pruney notes. Dusty/ somewhat musty dried fruits. Quite enjoyable over three nights — best on the second — and when paired with sympathetically spiced foods.

2003 vintage

If it was dead, it came back to life for us. Certainly it is no Blockbuster, and maybe the heat of the vintage gives it less acidity than we would like. But this has pleasant hints of deep rose petals, and lovely character when paired with complementary dishes — which included for us, roasted salmon with paprika. Quite nice over three nights.

2003 vintage

Dead

2003 vintage

Dead

2003 vintage

Delicious! Lots of cherry fruit and a smooth finish. Really lovely - had with a fantastic beef stew on a cold winter night.

2003 vintage

Very enjoyable bottle: cooked cherry, yes, with a beef blood kinda thing. Masculine. Solid. This is exactly what a young-ish second wine from an old, storied master of Rioja should be.

2003 vintage

Shows its age with a light ruby brown color and a nose of oak and cherry. Nice balance of fruit, oak, and leather with medium tannins and a tinge of acidity.

2003 vintage

This is good, no surprise.

2003 vintage

Lemon verbena aromas dominate. The palate shows lemon and leather with a strong mineral component. Lemon and spice dominate the acid laced finish. Richer, and even better, than the last time I tried it. I get the sense that this still has plenty of room for growth, unfortunately it's my last bottle.

2003 vintage

After about 30-45minutes this really fleshed out and turned into a true expression of Rioja. Nice dusty cherry, earth and vanilla in a true medium bodied tempranillo based wine. Nice moderate finish. Traditional Rioja isn't for everyone, but it is for me!

2003 vintage

TCA

2003 vintage

65% Tempranillo, 25% Garnacha, 5% Mazuelo, 5% Granciano. Cooked black cherry, cinnamon and cedar on the nose. Silky and smooth, powerfully aromatic, racy spine of acidity carries a long lingering black cherry finish. Full of fruit now with a gorgeous balance. A Lopez not just for a special occasion! The powerful flavors here complement any strongly flavored food--even spicy Indian curried tuna.

2003 vintage

Street: Great pungent nose of plum, new leather, exotic asian notes, earth, but very smooth, mysterious, supple, and crafted it’s way around so many diverse foods at street! Grt!

2003 vintage

Just about as expected, elegant LdH profile but less intense, brighter and fruitier than the reservas. Delicious and well-balanced food wine.

2003 vintage

Mild aromas of raspberries and cinnamon. Lovely palate of plums, leather and lemon. This is a delicate wine, but with a backbone of steel (in other words, the exact opposite of most tempranillo coming from Spain these days). CT has a drinking window of 09-11 - while this wine is fine to drink now I think it has a much longer future in store for it than that.

2003 vintage

Medium color, raspberries on the nose. Light to medium weight, long lasting with nice backbone. Spice and fruit, but in a feathery and understated package.

2003 vintage

España Tasting (Wine Exchange. Orange, CA) : Ruby/orange cast. Beef and red fruits on the nose. Piercing singular note of sour cherry flavor with lots of acid up front and aged wood on the mid-palate. Reminds me a bit of a barolo. Mellow mouth feel with very little tannins. Thin and glassy, and probably won't improve with age. It tastes older than what it is. It should be a good complement to a meal though. This is classic Rioja, and …

2003 vintage

very enjoyable light style that still had classic notes but very approachable

2003 vintage

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R. Lopez de Heredia, Vina Cubillo Crianza, Rioja

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