2001 Conde De Valdemar Crianza Rioja

[pja34]

I am new to wine and picked this one up the other day for $11 i think.
I beleive the producer is Martinez Bujanda.

I'm just curious what other people think of this one.

Can anyone tell me what the Conde De Valdmar is suppost to designate?

[wondersofwine]

I'm not personally familiar with the wine but K & L, a large California retail operation that also sells wine online, says that is their most popular Rioja wine. It is from Bodegas Martonez which is a pretty good sized operation. They bottle about 150,000 cases of wine annually of which (if I calculated the percentages correctly) about 36,000 cases are the regular Crianza. The wine is 85% from Tempranillo grapes and 15% from Mazuelo grapes. The Crianza spends nine months in stainless steel tanks and 16 months in oak casks, and then additional time in bottle. (The Conde de Valdemar Red Reserva spends 26 months in oak casks).
I think literally Conde de Valdemar translates to "Count of Valdemar" but in this case I think it is just a name chosen by the winemakers to denote some "class" or tie in with European royalty. The name appears in the lineage of Danish royalty.
Sounds like a fun, tasty, basic Rioja wine at a good price.

[dananne]

I recently had the 1995 Conde de Valdemar Gran Reserva Rioja, which was well worth the $14. Pretty classic in style. I've had less luck with the Crianzas (had some cork issues, I think, in the bottles coming into this market). For about the same price, I prefer the Bodegas LAN Crianzas. Stepping up a few more dollars, Artadi's Vinas de Gain Crianza (about $16) is pretty consistent, too. But at that price, you are better off just getting Bodegas Muga's Reserva Rioja.