Olivier Riviere Ganko Rioja

Lopez de Heredia Vina Bosconia

$64.99

The Bosconia vineyard, which has always been vinified separately at the winery, has more clay in the soil and tends to produce richer, plumper wines that are priced below Tondonia. This cuvée of Tempranillo with 10% Garnacha and 5% each of Graciano and Mazuelo boasts sweet fruit, dark plum, savoury herbs, black cherry, and silky tannins, almost Burgundian in style.

The 2013 Viña Bosconia Reserva, even in a cooler year, like 2013, has a rounder body and still 13.5% alcohol. They also insisted that "remember that we can use 15% of wine from another vintage, and perhaps we topped this one up with wine from 2015. We want consistency year after year." This matured in barrels for five years and was bottled unfiltered but fined with egg whites. It's expressive, elegant and subtle, clean and complex, with polished tannins and very good acidity (pH 3.3 and 6.7 grams of tartaric acid per litre of wine).

Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva

$91.99

Lopez de Heredia is a family-run Spanish producer based in Rioja and regarded as one of the world’s greatest wine estates. It was founded in 1877 by Don Rafael Lopez de Heredia y Landeta. Four generations of the Lopez de Heredia family have devoted themselves to upholding their 140-year tradition of producing exceptional wines.

Tondonia, the winery’s most famous vineyard and product, was established between 1913 and 1914. It extends over 250 acres on the right bank of the River Ebro. In addition to Tondonia, the estate owns three vineyards (Cubillo, Bosconia, and Zaconia) covering a total area of 420 hectares. The soil is alluvial clay with a high proportion of limestone. Lopez de Heredia winery is the oldest in Haro and one of the first three houses in the Rioja region. They use completely natural and traditional methods of winemaking and their grapes are sourced exclusively from their own vineyards. They use typical Rioja varieties to produce the best wines: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo for reds, Viura and Malvasia for whites. The winery’s commitment to tradition is evident in their 131-year history of using American oak. They continue to have their own cooperage, making them the only bodega in Spain to hand-craft all the barrels used to age their wines.

Basilio Acodo Tinto

$51.99

Basilio Izquierdo is a prominent figure in the Spanish wine industry, having spent 32 years as the head winemaker at CVNE, a highly respected brand in Rioja. In 2007, he established Bodegas Basilio Izquierdo with a vision to craft wines that reflect a modern interpretation of Rioja. His mission focuses on sourcing grapes from unique vineyards that are over 40 years old, utilizing his four decades of expertise to create exceptional wines. This dedication has led to the creation of the “Basilio inventions” label, featuring small batches of exclusive wines that are seldom found outside of Spain.

In 2016, Basilio was recognized as one of the 50 exceptional winemakers globally, standing out among over 2,500 winemakers.

Basilio Izquierdo B de Basilio Tinto

$87.99

The B de Basilio Red displays a brilliant, purple-hued ruby color. This suave, fruit encased red is brightly fragrant. Rich scents of black cherry and strawberry immediately greet you on the nose, followed by hints of clay and loam. The attack is supple, silky and juicy with additional notes of blackberry and raspberry. Fine, creamy oak tones emerge, adding roundness to the supple mouthfeel. Seamlessly integrated acidity and very fine ripe tannins provide structure. The long finish is capped by soft hints of spice and chewy strawberry.

Basilio Izquierdo is a truly iconic Rioja winemaker, responsible for dozens of true classics that bring Rioja aficionados to tears, such as the great 'Imperial' and 'Viña Real' Gran Reservas of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, and the mythic Contino ’82 Reserva.  In 2006, after more than 32 years as head winemaker at CVNE, he started his own personally inspired winery, Bodegas Basilio Izquierdo in a garage style cooperative winery space in the town of Laguardia within the Rioja Alavesa sub-zone of Rioja. His goal: to explore some of the lost art of Rioja winemaking in conjunction with his knowledge of the latest techniques and materials. In that first year his white wine production consisted of one new French oak barrel. Since then he has expanded to an annual production of about 5000 bottles of barrel aged red and 700 bottles of barrel fermented white.

Basilio's understanding of many of the lost traditions of Rioja form the basis for his methods and philosophy.  He uses only grapes from old vine vineyards planted with massally selected vines pre-dating modern clones, which contributes to their character and complexity. Masal selection involves using a vineyard's existing plant material when replanting, thus maintaining the genetic heritage of the vineyard.  Honouring earlier traditions, he employs more Garnacha in the Red and Garnacha Blanca in the White, which lend a juicy, fruity suppleness to the Red and rich tropical notes to the White, respectively. However, underneath their fruit laden exteriors these wines offer beautiful and harmonious structure that makes them worthy of long aging.