Criterion’s 2010 Reserva is a good example of a modern Rioja. With excellent concentration of black cherry fruit and firm tannins, it has the heft and dimension that impresses and a splash of spicy new oak that lingers. Made in a style that is meant to be consumed young, at $17 a bottle it’s a good bet that’s eaxctly what will happen. Drink up!
Criterion, Rioja (Spain) 2010
By Robert Whitley