Bodegas Chavarri Larchago Rioja Reserva 2016

This is a versatile wine that goes great with a lot of food. It’s what I call a chameleon wine. Whether it be an appetizer wine with the pigs in the blankets, a main course sturdy BIG RED or even a wine that can play nicely with dessert, this has it all in spades. It’s a juicy number from a great producer in Bodegas Chavarri.

They’ve been a main player in Rioja since the late 1800’s and make almost two dozen wines from native grapes. Their Tempranillo is the family’s calling card. They make expressive wines with bright red tones, fruity and sage filled aromas and incredibly food-friendly. .The location of the family vineyards under the Sierra de Cantabria mountain range gives the wines the unique and authentically Rioja personality.

But it’s their 2016 Rioja Reserva that is the true showstopper. I even blind tasted one of my buddies that thought it was a Napa Cab! James Suckling called it, “savory and complex”, “refined”, “juicy”, “elegant” and “precise” in his 93-point review which is just about as excited I’ve seen Mr. Suckling in any review he’s written this year.