Taking the good with the bad

[dananne]

Opened two '01 Rioja Reservas last night. The first, the Marques de Riscal was a nice, traditional-style Rioja, with a purple color, aromas and flavors of strawberries and blueberries, good acidity, and a not inconsiderable amount of oak. It was a very pleasant drink, and it was everything a value-priced traditional Rioja should be. The second wine, the Conde de Valdemar by Bodegas Valdemar, was just terrible. It's the first wine we've had in a long time that went down the drain due to poor quality, rather than from it being cooked, corked, etc. Acidic, tart cranberry flavors mingling with what I can only describe as canned tomatoes. Not good, and life is too short to slog through it. I asked Anne if she wanted me to leave it in the decanter overnight to see if it would improve, and she just gave me a hard look. Both ran about $12-15.