Bodegas Akutain, Rioja Cosecha, 2023

£20.60

Fresh, un-oaked Tempranillo from Haro’s Rioja Alta: tank-aged, unfiltered, and all about clean red fruit and spice in a light-to-medium frame.

plum
liquorice
cinnamon

At a glance

Producer: Bodega Akutain
Region: Rioja Alta
Appellation: Rioja DOCa
Grape: Tempranillo
Country: Spain
Wine type: Red
Alcohol: 13.0%
Size: 75.0cl

Taste profile

Body: Medium
Acidity: Medium
Tannin: Low
Sweetness: Dry

What to eat with it

grilled lamb chops
roast chicken with paprika
chorizo and peppers
tortilla española

How to serve it

Serve: Cool room temperature (16–18°C)

Why Cave selected it

A tiny, family-run Rioja Alta estate making classic, un-oaked Tempranillo that’s pure, juicy and great value; bottled unfiltered and grown without herbicides.

About the wine

Hand crafted Rioja by a very small independent 6.5ha estate in the Rioja Alta where the finest Riojas emanate, here the 25-40yo vines are planted in a pale calcareous clay at 500-650m altitude and give a yield averaging 40hh. The first of the Akutain wines is aged in tank 100% and bottled unfiltered after a year. This is fresh juicy Rioja as it should be

About Bodega Akutain

Bodega Akutain is a 6.5ha family estate set up by Jon Peñagaricano’s father 40 years ago, 5km west of Haro’s epicentre. Here they spare no effort to produce wines that accurately reflect the wind-swept limestone clay higher hills of Rioja Alta (all their vineyards are in this zone) and are in the process of converting to organic viticulture. The winery and underground cave that they use to age their bottles are located next to their vineyards (split into four parcels that are all vinified separately), and they are consequently able to time their picking and transport the hand harvested grapes back to the winery in perfect condition, and much quicker than most bodegas who buy grapes from many widely scattered sources.

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