Some Wine Scholars nights go exactly according to plan.
And then there are the better ones.
For our Rioja tasting, we started with a clear mission: explore the difference between Reserva and Gran Reserva, two of Spain’s great aging traditions. But as the evening unfolded, Judah (Our host of the evening) had a few fun wines to add to the mix, and the tasting turned into something even more memorable: a full Rioja masterclass overlooking one of the most iconic views in golf.
The setting did not hurt.
We gathered at Pebble Beach on a perfect day, looking out over the legendary 18th hole. The view almost stole the show — almost. But with a lineup like this, the wine had no intention of being background scenery.
A New Format: Reference Wines First
We began the night with three wines served not blind, each one giving us a reference point for the tasting ahead:
Reserva — the classic expression of Rioja with structure, fruit, oak, and energy.
Gran Reserva — the more patient, polished, age-worthy style, often showing more leather, cedar, dried fruit, and savory depth.
Rioja Moderna — a more modern expression of the region, giving us a fresh comparison point beyond the traditional aging categories.
This ended up being the perfect way to start. Instead of jumping straight into guessing, we had a shared foundation. Everyone could taste the differences, ask questions, build a mental map, and then use that knowledge when the blind wines came out.
The Blind Challenge
Once we had our reference points, we moved into the blind portion of the evening.
The challenge: identify two Reservas, two Gran Reservas, and two modern Rioja expressions.
Six wines. Three styles. Plenty of debate.
This was exactly the kind of tasting Wine Scholars was built for. The fun was not just in getting the answer right — although we all tried — but in figuring out why we thought a wine belonged in one category or another.
Was the fruit brighter and fresher?
Was the oak more integrated?
Were we tasting leather, tobacco, cedar, dried cherry, or something more polished and developed?
Was the wine traditional, modern, or somewhere in between?
By the end of the blind flight, we had tasted nine Rioja wines total, and the room was buzzing with opinions, guesses, questions, and a few very confident wrong answers — which, honestly, are half the fun.
A Surprise Bottle to End the Night
As if nine wines were not enough, we had one final surprise: a special bottle shared by Rui Zhang, Sommelier at Pebble Beach Company.
Rui not only contributed the surprise wine, but joined the tasting and helped teach us all about Rioja throughout the evening. One of the best parts of the night was having someone with that depth of knowledge in the room, ready to answer questions and help connect what we were tasting in the glass to the history, rules, styles, and evolution of the region.
We asked all sorts of questions. We learned a ton. And the wines kept giving us more to talk about.
Food, Wine & Knowledge
Judah was a fantastic host of a gorgeous venue, while tasting we felt relaxed
and genuinely educational. Everyone left full — full of food, full of wine, and full of new knowledge about one of Spain’s most important wine regions.
And that is really the goal of Wine Scholars.
Not just to taste great bottles, but to understand them a little better. To compare styles side by side. To learn through conversation. To ask the obvious questions, the nerdy questions, and the questions everyone else was secretly wondering too.
This Rioja night gave us all of that.
Final Takeaway
Reserva and Gran Reserva may sound like simple labels, but this tasting reminded us that Rioja is much more than aging categories. It is tradition, place, producer style, oak, time, and now increasingly, modern interpretations of what the region can be.
The view over Pebble Beach’s 18th hole was unforgettable.
But the wine was as good as it gets.
And for one perfect evening, Rioja more than held its own.
The Lineup
The final lineup ended up being far more ambitious than our original plan, with classic Rioja, modern Rioja, and a few unforgettable surprises:
- Zárate “El Palomar” Albariño
- 2020 Bodegas Muga “Selección Especial” Reserva Rioja
- 2012 López de Heredia “Viña Tondonia” Reserva Rioja
- 2016 La Rioja Alta “904” Gran Reserva Rioja
- 2021 Yjar Rioja
- 2011 Bodegas Muga “Prado Enea” Gran Reserva Rioja
- 2013 Vega Sicilia “Único” Ribera del Duero
- 2016 Bodegas Muga “Prado Enea” Gran Reserva Rioja
- 2023 Flor de Pingus Ribera del Duero
- 2014 López de Heredia “Viña Bosconia” Reserva Rioja
Not bad for a night that started as “Reserva vs. Gran Reserva.”
