I recently received a set of samples from Bodegas Hermanos Peciña located in the Alta region of Rioja. When confronted with Rioja wines I generally know what to expect (although this is indeed changing) in that the reds will be approachable with red cherry notes and the whites will be much of the same and similar to those found in Penedès but with more of a limestone rather than salt touch to them.
This is both the great gift and problem with wines from Rioja in that they are the absolute go-to option when you want a glass of red Spanish wine at an easy-to-swallow price. This is of course their curse as well in that they can often not have tremendous depth of character or even a real sense of place given the more typical use of American oak barrels that obliterate most of the subtle aspects one can possibly find in the Tempranillo grape.
To a large degree, this is what you find with the Peciña wines. The entire line is reliable and very much Rioja in character. The younger wines fall under the umbrella of “reliable” Rioja wines. The aged wines show a bit more character and the red Chobeo was my favorite out of the group although I didn’t understand initially that these were their top wines as the labels and bottles gave me the impression that they were younger or some off-market brand. Admittedly I have yet to understand Spanish marketing in its entirety…
