La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri - Rioja Reserva 2016

Remelluri is one of the most timeless and iconic landscapes of the wine world, as well as one of the most enchanting vineyards in Spain. Firmly anchored in its deep history, which dates back to the tenth century when Count Erramel, a Basque warrior and aristocrat from Álava, founded a small village on the site (uri in Basque); hence the name Erramel Uri evolved to Remelluri. The first wines were made here in the fourteenth century, when Hieronymite monks tended the monastery atop the nearby Sierra de Toloño mountains and founded a sanctuary and farm on the site. Today, Remelluri leverages its rich past to illuminate the path forward for not only the future of Rioja but also for world-class, terroir-based fine wines across Spain. 

Remelluri became the first single-estate/monopole Rioja of the modern era with its release of the 1971 vintage. Remelluri is currently owned and tended by the Spanish winemaking icon Telmo Rodríguez and his family, with Telmo’s creative partner Pablo Eguzkiza heading up the winemaking team. 

Remelluri’s vineyards are located contiguously along the slopes of the Sierra de Toloño mountains, part of the Sierra de Cantabria chain, in the valleys of Valderemelluri, La Granja, and Villaescusa, just above the village of Labastida in Rioja Alavesa. The Remelluri vineyards are at the highest elevation in the Rioja region, with south-facing vines planted between 590 and 805m, protected from the prevailing northern winds and frost. The Remelluri landscape is an integrated system of agriculture with great respect for the environment, which includes certified-organic farming with biodynamic treatments, as well as regenerative and agroforestry elements employed throughout the property to encourage biodiversity and harmony between the vineyard, mountainside, and human elements. 

All of the grapes are hand-selected for quality in the vineyard in small baskets. Grapes are destemmed, crushed, and the must is fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks and old, open-top foudres. It was then aged 24 months in foudres and barrels of various sizes and origin, fined with gelatin before bottling, followed by 12 years of bottle aging in the Remelluri cellar. Made with low intervention, unfiltered, and very minimal sulfur at bottling.

Producer: La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri

Country: Spain

Region: Rioja

Varietal: Tempranillo

Appellation: Rioja

Vintage: 2016

Size: 750ml