I found a bottle of fine Rioja yesterday in the cool cellar of one of the most popular restaurants in Havana: El Aljibe. It was a dusty bottle of 1999 R Lopez de Heredia Rioja Vina Tondonia Reserva. I wasn’t expecting much from the wine as the waiter pulled the cork out of the bottle and told me that they didn’t have proper wine glasses. They had all been broken and replacements were not coming soon. I asked him to serve the wine in the water glasses and my Mexican friends and I would enjoy it nonetheless. The wine was a medium brick red in color and slightly cloudy like an old shaken red Burgundy.

At first the aromas showed red fruits, blood and rust with hints of smoked meat and beef jerky. The palate was medium body with soft and velvety tannins and a long flavorful finish. It changed in the glass with air to more strawberries and spices, reminding me of a red Burgundy. It brought back nice memories of visiting the winery in Rioja in 1983. Lopez de Heredia was one of the first European wineries I ever visited. I scored the 1999 reserva yesterday 93 points.

I love classic styled Riojas like that. It makes me a little sad that so many new and old wineries in Spain have gone to darker and thicker wines that represent the New World more than the Old World.

However, none of this mattered yesterday. We enjoyed a wonderful, aged Rioja with our lunch of roasted chicken and pork, black beans, rice, French fries, and salad. A cigar was good after the meal with my espresso.