Roda Cirsion Vertical Case 2016, 2017, 2018, 96-98 pts James Suckling
NEW
2016 Vintage
This is the new 2001. Superb. Amazing aromas and flavors of dark fruit, spice, tobacco, fresh herbs and dark berries. It goes on for minutes on the palate. Full-bodied, tight and chewy. Superb structure. Needs at least three or four years to soften. Better in 2021.
98 points James Suckling June 2018
Released much earlier than the rest of the wines, the 2016 Cirsion is produced with very ripe grapes that they think need less time in oak, and the wine is therefore bottled and released earlier. It's a blend of Tempranillo with 11% Graciano matured in new French barriques for eight months, bottled and released ten months later. This is young and heady, explosive, with plenty of ripe fruit and a hedonistic profile. It has abundant, very fine tannins and a good thread of acidity going through its core that lifts the finish. It's unashamedly modern and showy. 12,500 bottles were filled in March 2018.
95 points Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate June 2019
2017 Vintage
This is a very overt but amazingly balanced Cirsion that shows pure blackcurrant and dark-cherry compote. Licorice, oyster shell, tar and mulberries follow. Full-bodied with so much blackberry fruit, but a bedrock of sophisticated, steely tannins. The soft fruit just keeps giving. A bold but expertly delivered wine. Drink in 2026.
96 points James Suckling July 2019
The 2017 Cirsion has been produced since 1998 from specific plants that seem to have a different ripening profile, initially only Tempranillo, but since 2011, around 10% Graciano has been added (11% in 2017). It's very dark and opaque, almost black and has a smoky nose with plenty of toast, wet graphite and earth aromas, ripe and heady with black fruit and dark spices. It's ripe and round but less complex than other vintages, a little lighter and at this moment still marked by the élevage. It matured in 100% new oak for eight months. 9,000 bottles were filled in March 2019.
94 points Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate Oct 2020
2018 Vintage
A perfumed nose of blackberries, blueberries, cumin, porcini, olives and dried herbs. It’s full-bodied with fine, creamy tannins. Layered. Such complexity, with savory, mineral character. Focused and long. Better in a year or two, when the vanilla character melts into the wine. Try after 2022.
96 points James Suckling Sept 2021
The 2018 Cirsion also feels a bit young, and it is also quite ripe with 14.5% alcohol, reminiscent of the modern wines from the turn of the century, powerful, ripe and generously oaked. There is a different granularity here: the tannins are a little coarser; there is a bit of an edge, and it's not as polished; it's a little wilder. I think this is going to age well. They managed to produce 10,200 bottles. It was bottled in March 2020 after only eight months in barrel.
95 points Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate July 2022
About RODA
In the late 80’s, Carmen Daurella and Mario Rotllant arrived in La Rioja with the firm intention of creating a project able to provide the world of winemaking with something new. This is where a fascinating, ambitious, exigent and unprecedented adventure began: BODEGAS RODA.
The winery, founded in 1987, is located on the edge of the railway station district of Haro next to La Rioja Alta. RODA cultivates 120 hectares of vineyard, 70 of those are self-owned and the 50 hectares left are from local growers with which they have different agreements. They are distributed in different ecosystems that go from altitudes of 380m to 650m above sea level.
In 1995 the winemakers at RODA discovered that some vines produced grapes whose flavour was very different to the one of the vines around them, showing more depth and volume. They identified those plants in their oldest vineyards and decided to elaborate a small batch with them. Two years later, they made the first CIRSION (1998 Vintage) with the name coming from a combination of Cirsium and Kirsion, the latin and greek words for the Thistle genus.
Early trials revolved around short-term ageing, unusual for a premium wine. Despite only receiving around 8 months in barrel, they found the wine reached a level of incredible silkiness and fruit complexity that was out of the ordinary. Thus, each vintage they walk through the vineyards looking for this curious natural peculiarity. And that’s how one in a thousand grapes become CIRSION.
