2020 Akutain 'Cosecha' Rioja

What’s unusual is that they exclusively use grapes from their 6.4 hectares of vineyards, all within five kilometres from the winery in the villages of Villalba, Haro, Anguciana, Cihuri and Sajazarra in Rioja Alta. They don’t use herbicides but are not yet entirely organic.

Each vineyard ferments and matures separately, and they follow a tradition they have learned from people such as Basilio Izquierdo and Ezequiel García (both ex-CVNE), racking the wines three or four times before they go into barrel (“to have them as clean as possible”). The aging is mostly in old American oak, with 20% to 30% in French oak, hand-racking the barrels one by one, like in the old times, and always keeping each vineyard separate.

The wines keep the traditional hierarchy: Cosecha, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva; and they even have a Gran Reserva Rosé! These are textbook traditional savory Rioja wines destined for the table. Luis Gutiérrez