We were getting to the end of the evening and there were still more wines to taste at D. Vine Fine Wines. I really had no problem, getting a new education on the last two wines and eagerly waiting to try some new wines. The wines that we were tasting were definitely above the normal selection and still more to come and everyone was having a good time.

The fifth wine of the night was from Haro, Spain and yes, it was a Rioja from Bodegas Roda. The Bodegas “Roda I” Rioja Reserva 2005 was an estate bottled pure Tempranillo from thirty to ninety-year-old vines. This winery was founded in 1987 and they are doing everything right from what I can see. Rioja was the first wine to receive DO status in Spain in 1933, and the first to receive DOCa status in 1991. They surpassed the basic requirements of creating a Rioja Reserva, because this wine spent sixteen months in French Oak, half new and half neutral, and then aged in the bottle for twenty months before being released. The nose was deep and impressive, with a black cherry color with a slight purple rim to the glass, long legs with a silky and elegant taste with the tannins still being feisty, and a very long finish. I have to admit that I am a sucker for a well-made Rioja wine and this one did not disappoint me in the least.

The sixth wine of the evening was quite a change from the Rioja, as it was a California red wine. The Adobe Road Kemp Vineyard Zinfandel 2014 from the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County was sublime, which is high praise from me, as I am just acquiring a true appreciation for this varietal. This is a family owned winery that features small lot, handcrafted wines owned by the sportscar racer Kevin Buckler and his wife Debra. Dry Creek Valley is a terroir driven AVA most known for its Zinfandel grapes, and these grapes came from the Kemp Vineyard which is now known as Famighetti Vineyard. It was a small lot indeed, as there were only two-hundred-sixty cases produce. This wine like all the other red wines of the evening were opened about an hour and half before the tasting started and it was a really jammy and full-bodied Zinfandel with a deep purple color and a good finish. The more good wines I taste, the less biases I have towards any wine that I may have tried almost fifty years ago.