Meet the Winemakers of the New Rioja
Anza
Anza is a perfect introduction to the “New Rioja.” Diego Magana is a second-generation wine maverick. His father Juan modernized the family estate in Navarra. Diego worked there for several vintages but then left to start his own projects in the early 2010s. His first project was in the mountains of Bierzo working with the region’s famed producer Raul Perez. In 2015 he acquired 2.5ha of old vineyards in Rioja Alavesa, the region he had always been drawn to. Rioja Alavesa is in the Sonsierra foothills of the Sierra Cantabria. It is typically defined by small plots of vines that have many different aspects. The soil is primarily calcareous and the wines from the region tend to have a different tension and energy to them than those of Rioja Alta. It is that tension and energy that was captivating to Diego. His vineyards tend to be old, planted in the 40s and 70s. They are field blends, mostly Tempranillo, with some Garnacha, Graciano, and white varieties mixed in. All plots are fermented separately with native yeast. They are then aged in 500L used French oak. If you are familiar with the wines from Bierzo you can see that Diego is using what he learned there and is applying it to Rioja. His wines have an unmistakable taste of where they come from. You can see that this part of Rioja is an amazing place for Tempranillo. It is high toned; the aromatics are lifted and the limestone in the soil tempers the tannins and acids in a distinctive way. This is terroir. These wines are very delicious right now. I think that the curious collector will surprise not only themselves but their friends with these wines, especially if they allow them a little more time in the bottle.
2021 Anza Rioja (#1733099) $31.99 94+WA This is a wine that comes from several tiny parcels. This is very typical of this region because the topography does not allow for larger plantings. It is with parcels like this that we can see how Rioja was made back in the day, on a small scale, a parcel at a time. That means that the blend was made in the field rather than the winery, so these plots have many varieties white and black mixed in. Native yeast ferments, done plot by plot, with partial whole clusters. The wines were blended and then aged in 500L and larger French oak barrels. Lifted aromatic and pure, this wine shines in the way that Burgundy can, but with more intensity and body.
2021 Anza Rioja “CDVN”(#1733097) $54.99 95WA While it is easy to wax about Alavesa, there are many other unique and great terroirs in Rioja. In the western part of the Najarilla Valley, toward the Sierra de la Demanda foothills is another spectacular place to grow grapes. This is Garnacha country. Here it is not uncommon to find small parcels of 100+-year-old vines. The soil here is volcanic clay with small amounts of calcium sulfide. This wine exemplifies another great expression of Garnacha from a country with many great Garnacha terroirs. The CDVN is an abrevation for the village of Cordovin, where this fruit is sourced.
Alegre y Valgañón
At the heart of “New Rioja” is terroir. Most of the producers whom I would put into this category are based in regions where you cannot have large-scale plantations. Rather, they are in the many foothills of the region where the topography is too uneven. These are great places to plant vines, but many vineyards are less than half an acre. Alegre Valgañón is run by the husband-and-wife duo Oscar Alegre and Eva Valgañón. This is a project that started in the early 2010s. They were inspired by the deep history of Rioja as well as the very traditional producers from around Europe. They sought out information on what was being done in the region before the Bordelais arrived 150 years ago. The epic wines from the middle of the last century also taught practical lessons of where some of the best sites for vines were. They were looking for not only what was done without the 225L barrel that has defined Rioja, but also where the fruit for the best wines that were made with those barrels. There is so much to like about this producer they take from the best of both traditions and making something new. They have small parcels in the western side of Rioja; in the shadow of the Monte Obarenes and Sierra de la Demanda. These are some of the coolest sites in Rioja, with long traditions of white and rose wines. The reds some of the most intense reds to be found in the region. On the northern side is Tempranillo, and, in the south, it is Garnacha. I love that that they are not hyper-focused on one site. One of my all-time favorite Riojas is the La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza, which is a blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha from the best sites for those varietals, which are not the same sites! There’s a beauty to the art of the blend. They farm those sites sustainably and organically. They do use oak but only used, mostly French and never American. They have been slowly increasing the size of the barrels. What brings me even more joy is that their philosophy is not to make profound wines, they want to make delicious wines, wines for all occasions. They do make a very small amount of single-vineyard wines that are profound, but in very, very small amounts.
2021 Alegre Valgañon Rioja $21.99 93WA 93VN This year's bottling is the best that I have ever tasted from them. They are producers to keep your eyes on; their wines get better every year. This year they added a new grape to the blend, Viura. It is now 75% Tempranillo, 20 Garnacha, and 5% Viura. The wine was aged for 16 months in foudres and used barrels. This is a fully realized, delicious wine. Wow. It is pure, vibrant, polished, and has a subtle intensity. Cherries, minerality, flowers, and an array of spices from the Garnacha and the oak. The oak is very fine, you feel it more than anything else. This is a medium-bodied wine with slightly less weight on the palate than a typical Rioja. It has an elegant balance to it that leans more Burgundian than Bordelais. It finishes with wild red fruits and mineral earthiness. The Garnacha rounds the mid-palate and gives this wine an easy charm.
Villota
Villota is a winery that absolutely is connected to the ideas of “New Rioja.” The wines are great, and their style somewhere between the poles of “traditional” and “new” Rioja. What I think is fascinating about these wines is that the terroir that they express will be familiar to long-time traditional Rioja drinkers. These vineyards are the very same that went into creating the first “château”-styled wine in Rioja, Contino. The Perez-Villota family, who own these vineyards, had been selling fruit to CVNE since the 1950s, and the main winemaker at the time said that without a doubt the best source of fruit for the wines that he was making at Viña Real came from the Perez-Villota family’s vineyards. They joined together, and in the 1970s they created Contino a single-estate Rioja, the very first. This started the trend of modernizing Rioja. It was at the height of that trend that the “New Rioja” movement started. In 2013, after 40 years, the Perez-Villota family ended the partnership, taking with them 100ha of vines that were part of the Contino Estate.
Villota’s vines sit along the Ebro River in the Alavesa subregion. It is one of those perfect Rioja terroirs that has a mix of the best soils in the entire region. Here is where the calcareous clays of the Sonsierra interact with the ferrous clays that are typically found south of the river, and it is incredibly stony, as you would expect being so close to the river. They have moved towards organic and sustainable practice in their vineyards. Their wines that focus on their terroir use a little more oak than other producers that I am placing in this “New Rioja” category. They are bold and structured and what I really love about them is that they sit in a place where they are having a conversation between the old and the new.
2020 Villota "Selvanevada" Rioja $17.99 This is a blend of Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha, and Manzuelo. This is the simplest, brightest, and purest of their wines. It is simply made with native yeast and finished in used French oak. The oak adds spice and depth, but the wine is all about fruit. Aromatic and lifted. A vibrant mix of dark red berries and fruits, with hints of herbs and flowers and a subtle stony earthiness. Clean and driving with easy tannins that resolve into finish where the fruit then lingers and echoes off the earth.
2020 Villota Rioja $29.99 93TA 93WE This is the wine that speaks to the future as well as to the past. This wine is a statement of intention, this is the future, but we are not breaking with our past. The wine sees French oak, with very little of it being new. It is blended and aged in concrete. But this is not a wine about how it is made but where it is made. The core of this wine is a deep, earthy minerality. That is what drives and focuses it. It is far from lacking fruit; in fact, it has all the charming aspects of the Selvanevada with more depth. This serious wine that should be thought of is the same category as other great wines of the world; but more importantly, it couldn’t be from anywhere but Rioja.