Single-vineyard Riojas from Roberto Olivan
And a free Friday tasting: Spain, friends new and old - today from noon
Once upon a time, Rioja was all about the relationship between wineries and growers. Most bodegas didn't have vineyards of their own and depended on growers to supply grapes, which meant that in two consecutive vintages a wine might be made from fruit from entirely different sources. Things have moved on since then. Most wineries now consider ownership of vineyards and full control of viticulture essential, and the cutting edge is all about site specificity and named vineyards.
Roberto Olivan is one of the most exciting young Riojan winemakers on this cutting edge. As the owner and winemaker at Tentenublo, he also farms 10 hectares of vines around the hamlet of Viñaspre, in the foothills of the Sierra de Cantabria. He seeks freshness in his wines, and eschews lengthy oak aging. His top releases are characterful, serious single vineyard bottlings under the Escondite del Ardacho label ('the lizard's hiding place', named after the colourful reptiles commonly spotted in his vineyards). One is Las Guillermas, a small vineyard with old Tempranillo and Viura vines. Veriquete is an even smaller vineyard with a mix of Tempranillo and Garnacha vines. He also releases a Rioja blend, Tentenublo, punchy and fresh with an edge of sour plum, and then there's Los Corrillos, a blend of white varieties (Jaen Blanco, Malvasia and Viura) fermented with native yeasts on the skins (making it orange), which then spends 5 months aging in chestnut barrels. It's tight and mineral just now, but with future richness waiting in the wings. It's far cleaner and purer than most orange wines.
We'll have two of these wines on tasting today. As part of our Free Friday tasting (Spain New and Old, 12-6:30pm) we'll be showing the Tentenublo Rioja and the single vineyard Escondite del Ardacho 'Las Guillermas'. Come and judge them for yourself. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold
