SPAIN

BODEGA AKUTAIN, JON PEÑAGARICANO, DOCa RIOJA

Despite already working with six wineries from Rioja, we could not resist adding Bodega Akutain  to our portfolio – for their wines reminded us why  we have fallen in love with this region in the first place!

Akutain is a small, family owned bodega, situated in the higher (500 – 650m) parts of Rioja Alta – four kilometres west of the historic town of Haro. It is currently run by Jon Peñagaricano who continues the work of his father Juan Jose Peñagaricano Akutain.

BAck in 1975, Juan Jose planted his first vines here, converting an  old barn into a small winery and the underground cellar.

What sets Akutains apart, is that all their wines are made with the grapes grown by themselves. The family works just 6.5 hectares of vines, planted on limestone rich soil, and spread across four plots surrounding the winery. The wines are fermented with natural yeast in fiberglass tanks and aged in used American oak barrels. Additional ageing follows in the underground cellar before release.

The production is small and until now Akutain remained a “hidden gem” of Rioja Alta – completely off the radar of the wine critiques. In some way this made us appreciate this traditional “grower” style Rioja even more!

OLIVIER RIVIERE, DOCa RIOJA

Olivier Rivière, a native of Cognac, studied enology in Montagne St-Emilion, worked biefrly with Elian Da Ros in Côtes-du-Marmandais, then at Domaine Leroy in Vosne- Romanée. His main interest there was to learn about biodynamic methods. He went on to Domaine de Chassorney in St-Romain to see how unsulfited wines are made, then spent two years managing the now defunct Domaine de la Combe in Pommard. His grapes come from three types of soils: the Graciano vines and part of the Tempranillo for the bottling of Rayos Uva grow on alluvial soils, sandy with round stones; the old vines Garnacha (65 to 90 years) that go into Ganko grow on red soil, with marl and sand coloured by ferrous oxides, at an altitude of 600 meters in Rioja Alta; the best Tempranillo vines (25 years old) are in Rioja Alavesa, on clay and limestone soils at 650 meters. Altitude is extremely important to Rivière, the cool nights keep acidity in the grapes, so he can make much fresher wines than most in the region.

RAFAEL LÓPEZ DE HEREDIA, DOCa RIOJA

Founded in 1877 by Rafael López de Heredia, the great grandfather of the currents owners, this is one of the first three wineries created in Rioja and the oldest one in Haro. Many conditions must have been fulfilled for López de Heredia wines to achieve their superlative status, making them live on in memory of those who have tasted them. The character of their wines is influenced by the climate, soil, attentive work in the vineyards,  as well as the ultra-traditional winemaking and care during the lengthy period of ageing in old American oak barrels and in the bottles. During over 140 years of its existence the winery saw fashions come and go, never giving in to modernity...

María Jóse López de Heredia, currently at the helm of the family winery, humbly says: “We keep making Viña Tondonia as we have always done it”.

BODEGAS MARTÍNEZ LACUESTA ,  DOCa  RIOJA

Félix Martínez Lacuesta, a lawyer by profession, politician and businessman by vocation, set up the Martínez Lacuesta Hermanos business in 1895. Almost immediately his five brothers joined the firm and trust began a voyage into the world of Rioja wine which today the third generation of the family are proud to continue. From that time until the present the firm has  stuck to the same initial philosophy: to create great Rioja wines.

LA GRANJA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA  DE REMELLURI, TELMO RODRÍGUEZ, DOCa  RIOJA

LA BICICLETA VOLADORA, GERMAN BLANCO, DOCa   RIOJA