The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote often about the joys of traversing a great path and once mused that he might ‘examine myself with no witness but the moon and then whistle with joy, ambling over rocks and clods of earth, with no task but to live, with no family but the road’.
In the town of Haro, in Spain’s famous La Rioja region, lies a historic region often described as Haro’s ‘open air’ museum where at almost every corner you are greeted by bronze and stone statues depicting traditional trades.
OUR NEW RIOJA RANGE LAGRIMAS DE MARIA comes from Bodegas Patrocinio, a quality-obsessed cooperative that was founded in 1986 when 100 small growers banded together to pool their resources and produce a stylish collection of delicious, great-value Rioja for the discerning drinker.
RIOJA LIES IN NORTHERN SPAIN, south of Bilbao and nestled between two sheltering mountain ranges. It was the first Spanish wine region to achieve DO / appellation status, in 1925, before being promoted to the top DOCa level in 1991.
CASTILLO LABASTIDA, A COOPERATIVE of 152 growers, combines traditional winemaking ways with the latest technology to produce its well-regarded Montebuena Rioja brand from its members' 600 hectares.
Someone asked this after spying the word on two of our floor-stacked wines, La Mano Bierzo Roble and Valtravieso Ribera del Duero Roble.
In our view, and that of many much more expert in the area, Rioja Alavesa is the pick of the three Rioja communes. Protected from the north by the Sierra de Cantabria and the fertile Ebro Valley to the south, its limestone-based soil is particularly poor. That's a good thing for vines.
It always takes someone who is prepared to break the mould. One of the many things that gives you that 'punch the air' moment in this business is when you find a range of wines that have the x-factor, delivering something different and unique that others can't emulate.
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