Description
Wine Details
Vintage after vintage, the two most prominent critics of Spanish wine—Luis Gutiérrez and Tim Atkin—place the De Miguel brothers wines among the Rioja elite. Atkin not only classifies Artuke as a First Growth, he consistently ranks both of its top two wines—La Condenada and Escolladero—among his top dozen red Riojas. Gutiérrez is no less lavish in his praise.
Alcohol Grade: 13.5%
Aging/ Vinification: traditional, whole-cluster and whole-berry fermentation, Partial carbonic maceration to promote the bright primary fruitiness of the Tempranillo. 3 months in cement tanks.
Best to have it: 14-18ºC
Size: 750 ml
The Winery: Bodega Artuke
Artuke is a small winery located in Baños de Ebro, a village in Rioja Alavesa on the banks of the river. In 1991, Roberto de Miguel decided to move away from bulk wine production onto bottled wine. Now his children Arturo and Kike, whose names are the basis of the winery they now lead, are shaping this project, firmly rooted in its surroundings and landscape.
Artuke is part of Rioja’n’Roll, a group of young producers who are committed to making singular wines which reflect their origins and terroir. Conscious of their heritage —they carried out a detailed study of the soils in their plots, located in Baños de Ebro, Ábalos, San Vicente de la Sonsierra and later in Samaniego— they fight to preserve it rather than transform it. That is one of the reasons behind their efforts to work the 25 hectares they own in the old way —no trellis on site; their plants are all bush vines, even the new ones.
