Ramon Bilbao, Rioja Gran Reserva (Spain) 2014

 This Gran Reserva from the accomplished house of Ramōn Bilbao is really a wine for the cellar—at least according to my taste preference.  It now shows a serious but not imbalanced dose of American oak, with toasty notes over-riding fruit aromas and also lending quite significantly to the tannin load in the finish.  I hasten to add that Gran Reserva traditionalists will likely be very pleased with the wine, either for current consumption with food or cellaring for the future.  When re-tasted over the course of two days after my first encounter, the wood receded with each passing day, suggesting this wine will not fall prey to the phenomenon in which wood tannins are never absorbed and balanced out.  This is very good now but won’t be truly excellent for another five years, but it will get there, and you’d be well advised to enjoy the Ramōn Bilbao Reserva 2016 in the meantime.