Oloroso Viejísimo Balbaina Baja 22%, De La Riva

Appearance
Very deep polished mahogany with copper glints fading to amber at the rim with some green.
Nose

Enormous nose, super fragrant and intense with a wonderful and concentrated mix of toasted nuts and dried fruits with traces of bitter orange peel, cinnamon and antique polished furniture. It has a gentle sweetness to it giving it a charm and instant appeal which belies its seriousness below the surface. So many nuances have melded together to form an exquisite bouquet.

Palate

Massively structured and concentrated at first with amazing grip and lots of tannin but when the tsunami subsides you are left with beautiful flavours which linger almost eternally. It is very sapid with lots of oak, nuts, exotic spices and a fair amount of glycerine which takes the edge of the dryness. This is fantastic.

Comments

Before it was even launched this wine scored 96 Parker points. The labelling is classic and almost identical to that of the original firm, the rights to which were bought by Willy Pérez and Ramiro Ibáñez from Beam Global in 2017. It simply states "La Riva Oloroso Balbaina Baja" without any indication of what a blockbuster this wine is. Anyway the plan is to sell the highest possible quality wines which can be found or produced, and they are off to a good start. This Oloroso originated in the Fabuloso solera of the now disappeared bodega of Cuvillo & Cia. in El Puerto de Santa María and the soleras were refreshed with wine from their two vineyards El Limbo and Santa Ana, both in the pago Balbaina Baja. When the crisis of the 1980s hit the firm they were forced to pay off an architect in the form of wine and when Willy and Ramiro came across it there was a little 12 butt solera which had not been refreshed in nearly 40 years. Transpiration losses had left the butts half empty so they selected those in best condition and which were most typical of the style of Balbaina Baja Oloroso as it had been before the 1970s. The vineyard was about 8 km from the coast and at about 55 metres elevation on albariza soil. The yield at the time was some 5,000 kg/ha, much lower than now, and the grapes were sunned for 48 hours. The wine was fermented in butts and went through 3 criaderas and a solera. The wine has an average age of between 70 and 80 years. Naturally the quantity is tiny and only 1,300 half bottles were filled in September 2017.

Price
96.15 euros per half bottle, Licores Corredera

Bodegas: M Antonio de la Riva SA

Manuel Antonio de la Riva y Pomar was born in Ruiloba (Santander) in 1838. Aged only 20 he moved to Jerez and bought an old bodega established in 1776 in Calle Arcos, opposite what is now Lustau. It contained some excellent old wines and would establish his reputation.

Manuel Antonio de la Riva y Pomar

He married the jerezana María Guadalupe González de Tagle y Villar and among their children were two noteworthy daughters; Petra (1882-1956) who would marry José Domecq and live in great luxury, daily attending San Marcos church, where it is said the priest could not begin the mass until she arrived. Guadalupe was famed for her beauty and was presented to King Alfonso XIII during a visit to González Byass in 1904. He was impressed but aged only 18 and later married Victoria Eugenia of Hapsburg.

Vina Sabel vineyard and casa de vina

The firm was comparatively small but prestigious thanks to its extremely old and very fine soleras, and it owned 53 hectares of vineyard next to that of Agustín Blázquez in the Pago Macharnudo including Viña La Riva and Viña Sabel (now belonging to Grupo Estevez). Bodegas La Riva are credited with the introduction of “deserpia”, the digging of a square depression round the stem of the vine to catch rainwater.

Manuel Antonio was a great defender of the interests of Jerez, proposing an entity which would fight for the prestige of Sherry and coordinate the efforts of its exporters.  He was thus chosen as honorary president of the chamber of commerce in 1902, and served as a member of the Cortes (Spanish parliament). When he died in 1909 he was a much respected man.

Manuel’s sons continued with the business, changing its name to MA de la Riva & Cia. in 1923, based at Calle Alvar Nuñez and in 1958 it changed again to MA de la Riva SA. In the early 1970s the firm was bought out by Domecq, who were in an acquisitive mood then, perhaps to add value to the firm to avoid takeover by Rumasa. La Riva was still run, at least for a while, by the La Riva family who were of course related by marriage. Gradually however the soleras were moved to the Domecq installations, and gradually the following famous brands disappeared.

Amontillado

Sherry: Tres Palmas, Macharnudo La Riva Fino, La Riva Pedro Ximénez Superior, Amontillado Extra 1819, Amontillado Fino Copa, Amontillado Guadalupe, Macharnudo Oloroso Viña Sabel, Viejo Oloroso 1830, Manzanilla Los Caireles, Palo Cortado, Brandy: San Quintín Viejísimo, Hispano

The brand was resuscitated in 2017 by Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez as M Antonio de La Riva SL. They wanted a respectable brand name for their new and very exciting Sherry project. Please see separate post.