Rioja ’Losares’ - Tempranillo, Graciano & Mazuelo (19)

90% Tempranillo en 10% Garnacha, Graciano, Viura en Calagraño | oude single vineyard (85+ jaar oud) in Navaridas | bodem met zand, klei en kalk | vergisting en rijping met 20% hele trossen in 500 liter eikenhouten vaten | daarna 26 maanden rijping in 1000 liter foudres | expressief | levendig | kruiden | power | grote wijn | Olivier's 'Grand Cru'

Olivier Rivière

Hoe komt een Fransman verzeild in Spanje? Vrij makkelijk eigenlijk! Als je stage kan lopen bij een van de beste wijnmakers uit het land, Telmo Rodriguez, sla je dat vanzelfsprekend niet af! Stap voor stap begint Olivier Rivière meer te leren en zorgvuldig te bouwen aan zijn eigen domein, wat nu 11 hectare beslaat. Na ook werkzaam te zijn geweest bij het beroemde Domaine Leroy vinifieert hij zijn wijnen naar de stijl van het perceel en/of dorp waar ze vandaan komen, zoals het ook werkt in de Bourgogne. De witte wijnen zijn lekker bourgondisch en rijp maar met finesse en de rode wijnen zijn eveneens karaktervol, hebben veel fruit maar zijn heel precies, met spanning en een grote complexiteit.

Review

The 2019 Losares was produced with the grapes from a plot of old vines in the village of Navaridas. The blend of 90% Tempranillo and some 10% other grapes, Garnacha, Graciano, Viura, Calagraño . . . fermented with 20% full clusters and matured in 500-liter barrels for 12 months, followed by a further 26 months in 1,000-liter oak foudre. It has 14% alcohol with mellow acidity, and it's expressive, a little more floral than other vintages, with the Tempranillo dominating the blend, still a bit young and with a very lively palate with vibrant acidity and very fine tannins, elegant and balanced, with all the necessary ingredients for a nice development in bottle. The tannins of the 2019s feel very fine and chalky, Rivière told me he was able to pick each vineyard at the right time, while in the past he sometimes harvested a little early, and from 2019, he's been waiting a little more for the tannins and doing less extraction and less foot treading. 1,300 bottles were filled in February 2022. 95/100 Luis Gutiérrez

Olivier Rivière produced 170,000 bottles, and in the 2022 harvest, he will pick a new plot of Garnacha in the village of Cárdenas for the first time since he planted in 2019. When I asked him about the latest vintages, he told me that he thought 2019 was an easy year in the vineyards with no diseases, uneventful weather, harvested à la carte when each plot was at its optimum moment. He likes the wines, which he finds balanced and with moderate alcohol that he compares with 2015 but with more complexity and with more acidity. 2020 was the most complicated year in the vegetative cycle with a very high pressure of mildew in spring; the summer was somewhat dry but the rains at the beginning of September helped to finish the maturation cycle. The reds are still completing the élevage, but it's a lighter vintage than 2019, very good also with lower yields. 2021 was a complicated year at first, with special care for powdery mildew, but then without problems in May, and there was a cold summer with little sun. There are two different harvests: the Rioja Baja harvest, where they had to harvest early due to rain, and the Rayos harvest, which was very easy, long and fruit driven. For the wines of Rioja Alta and Alavesa, he considers it a great vintage, from the people who waited for the perfect ripeness that took a long time to arrive. . . . He's reshaping the project in Rioja, refocusing to Cárdenas and selling the vineyards he had in Álava; 2020 will be the last vintages for Las Viñas de Eusebio, Losares and Pozo Alto. He is also starting a new winery in Bordeaux, in the Côtes de Bourg, an obscure zone with potential where he has purchased nine hectares of vineyards.