Wine of the Week

Maceración Carbónica 2020 - Luis Cañas

Region – DOCa Rioja

Varieties – 100% Tempranillo

ABV - 14%

€6 - widely distributed

When I moved to Haro in 2008 I was amazed that you could buy a glass of Rioja for €0.60. But it wasn’t really Rioja as we know it. More bubblegum and vibrant candied bananas than plums and oak. I’m not sure if I really liked it or not, but it was cheap. Trying it a few more times, I started to get a taste for its up-front charms. On frequent trips to San Sebastián I found the same thing and an invigorating glass of Ostatu for €1 became my go-to option at Donosti stalwart Gandarias.

I learned that these wines were made using the carbonic maceration process, using whole grapes in a CO2 atmosphere rather than the more usual process with crushed grapes. During this process a different type of fermentation takes place and skin and seed contact (think tannins) is limited. Done right you get fruit and not much else, making the wines drinkable a couple of months after picking.

Moving to Catalunya I was delighted to find that carbonic maceration was alive and kicking and in fact growing in popularity, with 12 bodegas supporting a pop up wine-truck on tour in 2021. Furthermore top notch Barcelona-based wine company Vila Viniteca hosts a block party every November to celebrate the new wines’ release.

The funny thing with these wines is that they are a bit under appreciated, often looked down upon or viewed as only really suitable for old timers and their pals over a few hands of cards. Yet truth is they are pretty on point these days. All fruit, no oak and vibrant. And if Spain was a bit less traditional I could see Carbonic Maceration Tempranillo in cans being a massive hit.

Anyway, back to the wine in hand. Luis Cañas is a very good family producer with some of the best vineyards in Rioja Alavesa. This wine is 100% Tempranillo and sees no oak. Here’s my tasting note during a night out in Logroño, several wines in at Bar Soriano…

“Woah - this wine is la bomba! Deepish colour but transparent. Full nose of herbal fruity cherry bomb banana goodness, staying the right side of serious over parody. Palate is all fruit but with a welcome stemmy twist. Delicious and definitive, refreshing rather than serious, the stemmy backbone stops it straying into glouglou territory.”