“I want people to be able to taste the differences between Labastida, Ábalos, and San Vicente the way you taste the difference between Volnay, Meursault, and Puligny.”
-Telmo Rodriguez
Introducing a very special mixed case of six wines from winemaker Telmo Rodriguez at Lindes de Remelluri, each from a different village, offering a chance to taste the differences of land and the meticulous work of growers from who nurture the vineyards around the specific towns.
Although Telmo had been producing some village bottlings since 2009, until very recently, wines bearing the name of individual villagers were banned by Consejo for the region. Believing passionately that the different expressions of Rioja deserved their spotlight, Telmo pressed on regardless, hiding the names of the village on the label in embossed writing, until eventually the names were permitted. With only 15 cases available, this is your chance to try the first 'approved' vintage.
These reds are all about vibrancy, aromatic charm, and stunning purity. No new oak, no heavy-handed extraction, just pure intensity and depth. Each wine stands out, the unique character of its village origin.
VINEDOS DE SALINILLAS DE BURADÓN 2020 – Robert Parker 95pts James Suckling 93pts Tim Atkin 93pts
91% Tempranillo, 4% Garnacha, 5% other grapes - a mountain site on the north face of the Sierra del Toloño, where an old road used by mule drivers to transport Rioja wine to markets further north ended. This is the most Atlantic wine of the Lindes project. An important salt spring was a source of wealth in the 13th century and gave its name to this hamlet of Labastida. Quartz salts give the clay a distinct character, creating a mineral tension to the wine.
VINEDOS DE LABASTIDA 2020 Robert Parker 94pts James Suckling 92pts Tim Atkin 92pts
89% Tempranillo, 6% Graciano, 5% Garnacha - a hugely important town in the history of Rioja wine: in 1680, 330 winegrowers were registered and it had 260 underground cellars. In 1790, Ramona Norberta de Albiz built the first large winery in Labastida, inspired by her Quintano relatives in Bordeaux. The soils vary from fluvial terraces of the Ebro at 440 m to terraces at altitudes close to 710 m, varied soils interspersed with fine soil textures in some areas, stony in others as their altitude increases.
VINEDOS DE RIVAS DE TERESO 2020 – Robert Parker 93+pts James Suckling 94pts Tim Atkin 91pts
57% Tempranillo, 38% Garnacha, 5% other grapes - a small mountain hamlet of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, at the foot of the Peñacerrada pass. There has always been a very close link between the families of Rivas de Tereso and Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri. During the disentailment of Mendizábal monastic properties were transferred, private families from Rivas de Tereso took over the vineyards and land of the farm, located between the valley of Villaescusa and the slopes of San Esteban. High altitude, calcareous clay soils with abundant stones eroded from parent rock (limestone).
VINEDOS DE SAN VICENTE DE LA SONSIERRA 2020 – Robert Parker 92+pts James Suckling 95pts Tim Atkin 91pts
88% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha, 2% other grapes - along with Labastida, San Vicente de la Sonsierra is undoubtedly the most important wine-growing village in the Rioja Sonsierra. The silhouette of the castle of San Vicente, the medieval bridge that defended the Ebro crossing between Navarre and Castile, the coats of arms of the ashlar stone houses and the excavated wine cellars bear witness to the prestige that this village has enjoyed since the Middle Ages. Son means beneath and sierra hills, therefore Sonsierra means beneath the hills. Variability of soils ranging from the alluvial terraces of gravel next to the Ebro at 425 m above sea level to the rockiest and poorest soils, formed by sandstones and loams of Tertiary origin, reaching up to an altitude of 695 m.
VINEDOS DE PECIÑA 2020 – Robert Parker 94pts James Suckling 94pts Tim Atkin 90pts
75% Tempranillo, 25% Garnacha - An amphitheatre of terraces with different orientations and is the most mysterious village in the Sierra del Toloño, a small hamlet belonging to San Vicente de la Sonsierra. The wine press excavated in the rock that is preserved next to the necropolis located to the south of the hermitage of Santa María de la Piscina is clear proof that vineyards have been present in this area since ancient times. Fresh soils near the hillsides, of calcareous origin and good stoniness due to the erosion of the bedrock.
VINEDOS DE ÁBALOS 2020 – Robert Parker 93+pts James Suckling 97pts Tim Atkin 93pts
73% Tempranillo, 17% Graciano, 6% Garnacha, 4% other grapes - the last village marked by the depth of the Sonsierra range, from here onwards the valley begins to widen. The area is home to more than thirty wine presses carved into the rock, dating from the 10th and 11th centuries. In the centre of the village, there is a winery with written records going back to the 14th century. Indicators of the important wine-growing past of this village. Soils on calcareous clayey loams and on Miocene limestone outcrops.
