Ramón Bilbao, Rioja DOC (Spain) Tempranillo 2016

 A big wine and a little more fresh fruity than most Riojas, Ramón Bilbao’s "Mirto" is well-balanced and robust but not aggressive.  It has voluptuous dark fruit – plums and cherries – good touches of wood and dusty tannins.  For those devotees of well-made East Coast wines, you might recognize a surge of fruitiness at mid-palate that is remindful of a well-made, very ripe Chambourcin.