Marqués de Cáceres, Rioja Gran Reserva (Spain) 2011

 Marqués de Cáceres is among the Rioja bodegas that has helped fully rehabilitate the reputation of Rioja Gran Reserva during the past 20 years or so, overcoming an earlier regional tendency toward oxidation and insufficient concentration to support the aging regimen legally required for Gran Reserva designation.  In stark contrast to that profile, this is actually almost meaty in texture, though still a medium-bodied wine (which is good, as that puts everything in play at the table from roast chicken up to duck through pork and veal and ascending to beef and even lamb).  The wine’s muscle is surely attributable in part to a warm-to-hot growing season in 2011, but this was handled deftly in both the vineyard and cellar, as there’s no hint of raisining in the aromas and flavors, and no alcoholic heat whatsoever in the finish.  Dark berry fruit is predominant, with a fresh edge of red pie cherry, and the wood is very well integrated, shown as spice and toast on the nose but without any un-integrated wood tannin to mar the finish.  Very well made, and a bargain when judged both within its category and also by comparison to comparably complex wines with similarly costly pre-release aging programs.