Riserva: Worth the Wait?
“Reserve” sounds good on any bottle: better than the garden variety, we picture a Reserve bottle being pulled with reverence from a special vault in the cellar, a footman nodding at our good taste. But what does “Reserve” actually mean?
It largely depends on where the wine hails from. Chances are, though, that it will cost a premium over a non-Riserva bottle. Veronica shines a light into the wine cellar’s proverbial murky corners.
Goes great with: dinner with the boss, an inquiring mind – and some extra ducats.
We’ve all done it: we’re shopping for an item that is outside our area of expertise – say, a Rabbit corkscrew, or a Rabbit personal stimulation device, or a VW Rabbit – and we default to price. We check out the bells-and-whistles, we read the copy, and then we…pick the second-to-most-expensive, maybe.
Winemakers know this; hence the birth of Riserva. In Italy and Spain, Riserva/Reserva (meaning “Reserve”) denotes wines that have been aged longer.
It can illuminate a wine: if you like the standard vintage, trying the aged Riserva can confirm and bolster your initial impressions.
In Portugal, Reserva denotes a superior vintage, or higher alcohol content. Test drive the Turbo, and you might stick with it.
Now comes the Great Unregulated American Market, with no legal qualification for labeling something Reserve. That is correct: producers can stick it on anything, so domestic buyer beware. Read the label and query your sommelier – sometimes the Regular Rabbit will do the job just fine.