Wine of the Week

XÉRICO 2018 - Tentenublo

D.O. – Rioja (Alavesa)

Varieties – 85% Tempranillo, 15% Viura

ABV - 14%

£17.95 (mixed 12 at £15.95) - Lea & Sandeman

Being such a big advocate of the notion ‘there’s more to Spanish wine than Rioja,’ it’s odd that I find myself starting my contribution to this feature with, you guessed it, a Rioja!? ‘So cliché’, ‘so dull’, ‘have you not heard of Ribeira Sacra’ I can hear you all say! But hold your horses wine drinkers...there’s exciting things happening in this wide spectrum of a region!

After a couple of recent trips my eyes have been truly opened to what’s happening out there. I think it’s fair to say the general external view of Rioja is ‘that wine region with the Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva’ and there’s a 100% direct connection between quality and where it sits in that rather outdated and short sighted system. But you only have to look at Gomez Cruzado’s Terroir Selection or what Sandra Bravo is producing at Sierra de Toloño and Tom Puyaubert at Bodegas Exopto to see where it’s heading. Things are changing...or as drinkers are we just demanding to see the real Rioja? Either way it’s exciting! All we want is good wine, wherever it happens to sit in the classification system.

Roberto Oliván from Tentenublo definitely fits into this camp and wants to express the sense of place with his wines (which just so happens to be in Viñaspre, Rioja Alavesa). His Xérico is 85% Tempranillo with 15% Viura, which are co-fermented. The wine is super fresh and very aromatic. On the palate I get lots of fresh red fruits, with a little spice. There’s almost a natural wildness to this wine - it’s got character for sure! Typical of the high-altitude style, the acidity is very much present and for me the dominant characteristic of the wine. Quite tangy! The acidity is precise though and sits well in the mouth, but it’s maybe a little too much for me.

Reading Tim Atkin’s Rioja report, he gives a drinking window of 2021-25 and I think seeing how this develops will be interesting. My general rule of thumb (that I often discuss with a friend as a gauge) is ‘is it a bottle best shared’ and for me it is. That’s no bad thing and to be honest I put most Atlantic styles in that category. It just means we can open something else too - wine is best shared after all!

For me, Xérico is a really interesting wine that helps you further understand Rioja as a region and I’m all for that!