EVINGTONS RIOJA WINE MERCHANTS UK IN LEICESTER
Evington's Wine Merchants are the longest established shop on Evington Road in Leicester. Is a family business founded in 1926 by "Grandfather March". Now Simon March is the third generation of the March family to oversee the day-to-day running of the company. Historicacly they have always deliver the best quality wines, and value for money, plus a close and experienced service to their customers. They are not only Wine Merchants, they also stock a very comprehensive selection of spirits (Malt Whiskies, Liqueurs, etc.). We reomendo to browse through the various selections of quality wines, fortified wines and champagnes and Malt Whiskies in their wine list.
- Name: Evington’s Wine Merchants
- Contact Person: Simon March
- Activity: Beer Wine And Spirit (wholesale) in Leicester
- Adress: 120 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1HH. United Kingdom
- Opening hours: Sunday closed. Monday to Friday 10 am to 6 pm. Saturday 9.30 am to 1 pm.
- Parking: Limited waiting (1 hour) is available at the side of our premises in Mere Road.
- Phone number: + 44 (0)116 254 2702 or Fax + 44 (0)116 254 2702
- E-mail: simon@evingtons-wines.co.uk
- Web: www.evingtons-wines.co.uk
- Location: They are still in the same premises at the corner of Evington Road and Mere Road, although much extended on several occasions during the years. If you live nearby, or you are visiting Leicester you should have a browse round the shelves. Simon March is always pleased to help with your wine selection, and if you require any assistance. They are situated on the corner of Mere Road, which has 1 hour parking at the side of our premises.
- Tutored Wine Tastings: You don't have to be a connoisseur to enjoy wine tasting. Whether you want a relaxed, fun afternoon or evening tasting wines with friends, an informative tasting, or just to try before you buy, evington's wine tastings can be the right tasting session for you. Booking for all events will be essential, so please register your interest by e-mailing or phoning (simon@evingtons-wines.co.uk or 0116 254 2702). Rieslings of the World, A Trip Through Mid Italy, Best Riojas, etc.
- Party Services: They are very experienced in catering for the drinks side of your party or occasion, whatever it may be. They will provide advice regarding quantities as well as suggesting the wines and soft drinks that you should provide. They can supply you on a Sale or Return basis, and they carry a large stock of glasses which can be borrowed free of charge with appropriate orders. This service is only available to customers collecting from the shop, or within their delivery area (Leicestershire). Please Contact them for further information.
- Buy Online: The online offering is attractive, distinctive, and fairly easy to negotiate. On-line ordering is available, but although there are pictures of each bottle, most of the wines, don´t have tasting notes or even a brief description. That´s why we higly recomendo to to strike up a relationship with Simon March, some who really knows what theyré talking about. In may opinion that´s the majic about local wine independents, it´s their team of passionate, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable staff, and so the road to better drinking begins.
SARAH JANE EVANS MW - RIOJA WINE REPORTS (DECANTER)
- Sarah Jane Evans MW: Is a Decanter World Wine Awards Regional co-Chair for Spain & Sherry and was made a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vino for services to Spanish wine. She has written one book on Spain and has another on the Wines of Northern Spain in preparation. She studied Classics, and Social & Political Sciences at Cambridge University. She began her career in book publishing, and today is a Trustee of the André Simon Book Award, and a Series Editor of the Classic Wine Library. She spent a decade as Associate Editor of the BBC's Good Food magazine, and has a strong interest in taste and flavour, and in encouraging consumers to build their own confidence in tasting.
- Best Price Value: The region’s producers have listened to their consumers, and red Rioja priced between £8 and £25 is better value than ever before. These results proved that you don´t have to pay the earth or pic the big names to get an exciting, quality Rioja that will give you great drinking pleasuer. The big picture is clear, Rioja under £25 is thriving. It gives drinking pleasure, value for money and consistency across constrasting vintages. There´s clearly so much more to Rioja´s propularity than its large advertising budget. At this price point, the most important result of this tasting is the confirmation that Rioja at this pice delivers qualit, reliability and value.
- Traditional Style Rioja: In particular, if you want to drink traditional-style Riojas, with ripe, supple fruit, a touch of citrus acidity and a smooth undertone of softer tannin, then this price point is the spot on the shelf to find them. Furthermore, unlike most other wines of the world, these wines are released ready to drink. Traditional: Fragant, silky, delicate. Long ageing in casks and bottle. Ready to drink on release. American oak barrels. Moderns-Classical: Younger, rounder wines. Character through oak ageing. Can develop in bottle. Often a mix of american and french oak barrels. Modern: Richer, velvety wine aged for less time, and in newer oak. Released earlier and mostly need keeping. French oak barrels.
- Blind Tastings: As always in blind tastings, there were some surprises when the results were unveiled. The great advantage of blind is that it ignores status, ans relies purely on decisions of that day´s panelists. Hence several well-known bodegas found themselves in the Recomended category, when they might have hoped for something higher. It´s worth noting, though, that a number of these have wines in their portfolio that sell for above £25, which more fairly represents their style. The vintage may had something to do with it too: for instance, Contino (16,5 points) and Cvune´s Imperial (15,75) underperformed their usual placings. Both were from 2008, which might have accounted for these scores.
- Winemaking: In terms of winemaking, overall it was excellent to note that the oak was less overt and better quality, that the fruit was clean, the wines well-made. Only a small handful did not reach the recommended rating. The wines were also approachable. The recent economic crisis may have had something to do with this, as producers have had to look beyond domestic customers and make wines that appeal to foreign palates. Nor are they standing still. Garnacha, Graciano and even Maturana Tinta are making their presence felt in blends, creating diversity and drinking interest.
- Typicity: The wines we tasted mostly showed good typicity. It has to be said, though, that they showed typicity of Rioja, rather than of their terroir. This is partly because many wines are (and have been historically) blended across sub-regions to give character and complexity. It is also to do with the price. For instance we did not see any single-vineyard wines. Single vineyard is a relatively new concept in Rioja (Contino was the earl fist) and the new generation of such producers are working in small quantities, at higher prices.
- Urbina Top Wine: Pedro Benito Urbina, Selección Crianza 1999. It was delightful to taste this mature, traditional style (the oldest wine in the tasting). Light-bodied with moderate alcohol and a silky palate, tobacco oak adds a savoury note. Long and delicately balanced. This is what Rioja can do!! 18,5/20 (95/100). Drink 2015-2025. The taster´s top wines are not necessarily their top-scoring, rather those which, on learning the wine´s identity, they feel are the most notable given thier provenance, price or other factors. (Rioja £8 - £25).
- Urbina Highly Recommended: Pedro Benito Urbina, Urbina Selección, Crianza 1999. 18,25 (94). Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW: 18,5. Sarah Jane Evans MW: 18,5. Pierre Mansour: 17,5. (£18,32 - £21,49). "Cockburn & Campbell, Daniel Thwaites, Exel, Ratcliffe & Brown, Small Beer". Smoking, leathery, mature nose with a hint of something exotic. The Tempranillo shows a darker profile in this wine and, overlaid with toasty oak, the emphasis is on the savoury aspect. Drink 2015-2025. Alc 13,5%.
- Terroir: From west to east, Rioja is just 100km and at its widest point 40km, tucked in between mountain ranges and cut through by the river Ebro. As a wine region it is compact, yet it is all about diversity. Politically it is divided, administered by three autonomous governments. Climatically there are Diferences: Rioja Alavesa to the north has strong Atlantic influences; Rioja Alta to the west also has a mainly Atlantic climate; Rioja Baja to the east is drier and warmer with Mediterranean influences. Nothing is straightforward about the soils, either, a complex blend of chalky clay, ferrous clay and alluvial types. Add into this the differing aspects and elevations (up to 700m, and in a few cases up to 900m). Blend in the grape varieties. To finish, there are the decisions of the producers, each serving diverse customer tastes.
- History: Rioja offers history, tradition and dassical wines. Its winemaking history goes back more than 1,000 years; the difficulty is that its image has not moved as far as its wine styles. Yet the region’s producers are not standing still. Certainly the recent nationwide economic crisis put an abrupt brake on the building of glossy wineries, and the purchase of glamorous oak vats. Instead there are several important trends. The earliest written evidence of the existence of the grape in La Rioja dates to 873, in the form of a document from the Public Notary of San Millán dealing with a donation to the San Andrés de Trepeana (Treviana) Monastery.
- Modern Wines from Rioja: The Wines Today. First, the focus has shifted from the winery to the consumer and particularly in export markets. Bodegas have to sell, and not just on the domestic market. At the value end, this has meant brighter fruit and a cleaner, more modem style. As a result, Rioja has a wonderful variety of styles. Modern wines from rioja are richer, velvety wines aged for less time in newer (usually) French oak, which are released earlier and mostly need keeping. The best producers here are Roda, Paisajes and Lanzaga.
- Price Range: A Rioja under €8 will be a straightforward, simple, fruity wine, whereas between £8 and £25 there is plenty of character to be found. Second, the very big brands (formerly known for cheap and cheerful reds, piled high in supermarkets) are coming to understand their customers, and to diversify. A third trend is the arrival of people working with old vines, identifying subzones in a Burgundian village style, creating business models at odds with the work of the big producers. These wines will cost more than £25, but their philosophy will have an influence on the longer term.
- Modern-Classical Riojas: Being Rioja, if it’s on the shelf, it’s ready to drink, though the best will cellar well for 10 years. At the £8-£25 level, the pleasure is surely in drinking them now or soon. The wines have generous fruit, the best with the essence of biting into a fleshy cherry or plum. Alcohols are creeping up 14,5% in many cases, though most wines are well-balanced. Modern-classical Riojas are younger, rounder wines that retain the delicious character of Rioja through cask ageing (often a mix of American and French oak) with the structure to develop in bottle. Bodegas Muga, CVNE, Marqués de Mejia and Contino fall into this category.
- Oak Barrels: As for oak, the clue to traditional Rioja was the American oak. it sadly, but deservedly, earned the wines a reputation for coconut, raspberry and vanilla notes, or alternatively for tired, dried out oak. All that has changed. Many Riojas are aged in a blend of American and French oak; texture and complexity are the focus. In a region where the word "reserva" actually means something (namely, one year in oak and then two in bottle) there has never been any need to over-oak these wines. Reserva is a guarantee of age, though not necessary of quality. But at this price, reservas are reliably worth buying. What is interesting Is that with this careful management of good oak, gran reservas at this price (two years in oak, and three in bottle) have also been transformed. As ever, Rioja offers diversity along with drinkability.
- Rioja the Facts: Area under vine 43,885ha. Production About 300 million litres, of which 90% is red. Permitted red grapes Tempranilio (more than 75% of the Rioja vineyard). Gamacha, Graciano. Mazuelo and Maturana Tinta. Producers 368 bodegas age Rioja. There are 1,266,154 (225-litre oak casks) in the appellation's cellars. Today Rioja Baja accounts for more than 60% of the DOCa´s. In 1973, Rioja´s plantings contained 39% Garnacha and 31% Tempranillo, today the comparative figures are 7,73% and 81,3%. In other words, Tempranillo has taken over, with a corresponding drop in the percentage of old vines, especially old vine Garnacha. The other three local red grapes, Mazuelo (2,11%), Graciano (1,76%) and newly rediscovered Maturana Tinta (0,14%) are even less significant.
- Rioja Sub Regions: Rioja is a privileged region for grape growing and winemaking because of the diversity of sub-regions, soils and terroirs it offers. Each sub-region produces quality wines with distinct characteristics.The three principal regions of La Rioja are Rioja Alavesa, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja with each area producing its own unique expression of Rioja wine. Most of the territory subjected to the Rioja Protected designation of origin is in the La Rioja region, even though their limits do not coincide exactly. There is a narrow strip in the left bank of the Ebro river lying in the southernmost part of Álava included in the La Rioja wine region, whereas the south-southwestern part of the La Rioja region is not a part of this Protected designation of origin.
- Rioja Alta: Located on the western edge of the region and at higher elevations than the other areas, the Rioja Alta is known more for its "old world" style of wine. A higher elevation equates to a longer ripening and growing season, which in turn produces brighter fruit flavors and a wine that is lighter on the palate.
- Rioja Alavesa: Despite sharing a similar climate as the Alta region, the Rioja Alavesa produces wines with a fuller body and higher acidity, in their youth they are highly aromatic, but they don´t each as well as the ones from the Rioja Alta. Vineyards in the area have a low vine density with large spacing between rows. This is due to the relatively poor conditions of the soil with the vines needing more distance from each other and less competition for the nutrients in the surrounding soil.
- Rioja Baja: Unlike the more continental climate of the Alta and Alavesa, the Rioja Baja is strongly influenced by a Mediterranean climate which makes this area the warmest and driest of the Rioja. In the summer months, drought can be a significant viticultural hazard, though since the late 1990s irrigation has been permitted. Temperatures in the summer typically reach 35 °C (95 °F). A number of the vineyards are actually located in nearby Navarra but the wine produced from those grapes belongs to the Rioja appellation. Unlike the typically pale Rioja wine, Baja wines are very deeply coloured and can be highly alcoholic with some wines at 18% alcohol by volume. They typically do not have much acidity or aroma and are generally used as blending components with wines from other parts of the Rioja.
- Rioja Wine Law & Age Statements on Labels: In 1926 Rioja established the first consejo regulador and so was the first Spanish wine to obtain Denominación de Origen status. The regulations govern many aspects of wine production but of most significance to wine drinkers are the rules specifying oak ageing. Joven: wines that have had no oak ageing. Crianza: wines must spend a minimum of one year in barrel and one in bottle before release. Reserva: wines spend one year in barrel and two in bottle. Reserva wines are some of Rioja's finest. Gran Reserva: wines are usually made in the best vintages where the fruit quality is rich enough to support two years in barrel and three in bottle. What can be confusing is that these are minimum regulations and each house does its own thing.
- Know your Vintages: Rioja’s diversity makes it hard to generalise about vintages. The producers make a real difference. The comments about long-term ageability relate to fine wines, usually over £25. 2013: Cold, rainy, variable, difficult year. Pick your producer carefully. 2012: Low yields. The best wines are fresh and elegant Drink 2015-2025. 2011: Officially 'excelente'. Wines can be warm and jammy, Best are still to shine. 2010: Excelente. Good, even ripening. Drink or keep the best until 2020 or later. 2009: Quality depends on producer.Can be tannic. Drink 2015 or soon. 2008: A cool year. Wines show freshness, lower alcohol. Drink 2015 and in the medium term. 2007: Cold, late vintage. Lighter wines. Can be elegant from top producers. Drink 2015 or soon. 2006: A warmer year than 2007. Selection was needed. Drink 2015 or soon. 2005: Officially excelente. A vintage of even ripening, giving elegant wines. Lovely from 2015-2025 or even longer. 2004: Excelente: supple,fleshy, attractive. Enloy 2015-2025 or longer.