Remelluri “Labastida” Rioja 2015

Remelluri “Labastida” Rioja 2015

Grapes: 95% Tempranillo, 5% Garnacha

ABV: 14%

Winemaker: Telmo Rodriguez

Viniculture: This wine is sourced from small family parcels across the Rioja region, and specifically around the village of Labastida, a higher altitude area that produces elegant styles of wine. These vineyards are all farmed organically.

Winemaking: Fermented in stainless steel, then transferred into oak barrels for 12 months.

Region: Labastida, Rioja, Spain

“ruby red, with flashes of orange”

I’ve been a fan of the winemaker Telmo Rodriguez for a while. When I opened Aragona, the short-lived Seattle restaurant focused on the wines of Spain, we had several wines of his on the list and they were big hits.

Despite making cool stuff all over the Iberian Peninsula, Telmo Rodriguez’s main project has been making the wines at his family’s estate, Remelluri. For a long time Remelluri was a middling Rioja producer making decent wines, but Telmo had his sights set on excellence. He overhauled the viticulture, making sure they were focused on high-quality organic farming, and modernized the winemaking.

This wine is made from fruit purchased from small family vineyards in the village of Labastida, an important area for Rioja, and very close to the Remelluri property. These nine vineyards have been under contract with Remelluri for years and they produce an elegant, perfumed style of Rioja. This wine grabbed our attention from the start.

In the glass this wine is ruby red, with flashes of orange. It’s an atypical style of Rioja, more floral than woodsy. Notes of forest loam, Morel mushrooms, stewed black cherries, dried orange peel, olive juice, and desert sage.