Arizcuren Rioja Gatún 2021

Named one of Decanter magazine's 'Rising Stars of Rioja' ~ Javier Arizcuren ~ in his own words, the goal of Spanish winemaker Javier Arizcuren is "To recover the memory of La Rioja Baja and to preserve the wine heritage of our ancestors; bringing the expression of a terroir, the Sierra de Yerga, to the bottle."  When Javier Arizcuren took over his family vineyards in 2009, he decided to pursue something no one in his family had done previously: producing wine under the family name. An architect who was designing wineries for others, but also a fifth-generation grape grower, Javier was inspired by the fantastic 16 hectares of mountain vineyards now in his care. He continues to sell some grapes, keeping his most prized parcels for his eponymous project.  

These low-yielding vines, some of which are up to 130 years old at high elevations of 1700-2600’, celebrate the historical wine tradition of Quel and the Sierra de Yerga. Over the last 60 years, many winegrowers have abandoned mountain viticulture, moving down to the fertile low fields, replacing the local grapes with Tempranillo, and in the process damaging the reputation of Rioja Baja (Javier prefers the traditional name to Rioja Oriental). Javier is making a valiant effort to combat this, by seeking out more old vines to save and bottling the terroir of the Sierra de Yerga to raise its reputation. It's working. His wines have garnered early support and rave reviews.

The grapes are grown organically in Quel, using grazing herds instead of herbicides and pesticides, and vinified with spontaneous fermentation and minimal intervention in his urban winery in Logroño, steps away from his architecture office. We tasted and positively fell in love with this Spaniard's wines.

Made of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 10% Mazuelo from north-facing vineyards at 2000’ elevation. The grapes are harvested by hand in small crates at the beginning of October. They are destemmed and the three varieties ferment separately, with indigenous yeasts. Assemblage prior to malolactic fermentation. Aged 12 months – 70% in concrete, 30% in Slavonian oak barrels. 14% alcohol.