6 bottle mixed case for only £200 with free delivery
With four of these wines on tasting today and tomorrow
With 30 cooperatives, hundreds of bodegas, 15,000 growers and 60,000 hectares under vine, Rioja is easily Spain's biggest, most diverse and most influential wine region. The Romans were probably the first to make wine here; in the Middle Ages, Riojan monasteries made wine to serve thirsty pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. But it was in the nineteenth century that Rioja really leapt onto the world stage. When the phylloxera louse began to devastate vineyards in France, merchants came to Spain to find new sources of wine. Helped on by the arrival of the railways, Rioja hit the boomtime, establishing a winemaking model based on long aging in American oak barrels.
These days, that is thought of as the traditional Rioja winemaking model, but styles have diversified. Many bodegas have dialled back the oak, and more use French oak, which imparts a different character. And while the traditional model usually relies or relied on sourcing fruit from growers across the region, there is a strong new focus on terroir, single vineyards and sub-regional character. We've put together a mixed case of six of our favourites from some of the region's top estates.
We'll have four of the wines on tasting today and tomorrow. /NT
The case contains one bottle each of:
WHITE
2022 Abel Mendoza Viura: Nobody in Rioja does white wines like Abel Mendoza. He only uses French oak, and for shorter than traditional periods. This is elegant and poised, with citrus and honeysuckle notes.
2015 Lopez de Heredia Vina Gravonia Blanco: Caramel, candlewax and ripe lemon aromas on this very traditionalist Viura/Macabeo blend.
RED
2016 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva: The intense bouquet packs in cherry and orange, tobacco and pine; the tightly-wound palate suggests it still has quite some way to go. La Rioja Alta are one of the standard bearers for traditionally made Rioja.
2016 CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva: One of the region's great Gran Reservas, this is structured and powerful, with fine, well-wound tannins. Lovely notes of clove, cigar, orange and plum.
2015 Finca Martelo Reserva: From 80-year-old vines on clay and limestone soil from one site in Rioja Alavesa, and a mix of French and American oak. 'Without a doubt, 2015 is one of the best vintages ever for us in Rioja', says winemaker Julio Sáenz.
2011 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva: Succulent and silky, with a concentrated, still youthful core underneath. The Tondonia vineyard is one of Rioja's great sites.
Offered subject to remaining unsold
